On May 2, 1986, the world turned its attention to Vancouver.
When Expo 86 opened, it brought countries from all over the globe together in a massive event to share their heritage and culture.
Many 1130 NewsRadio listeners have called the station to share their memories.
Carol was a volunteer at the World Fair. She remembers her time there as a special, joyful experience.
“It was such a fluid, happy time, and even though there were so many people, it was just so special,” she shared, going on to say she doesn’t think there will ever be anything quite like it again.
“I think once you have a good event, you can never do it again.”
A highlight for her was getting to meet Jim Pattison.
“I was told he was on site every day to see the volunteers,” Carol said.
Another listener, Jeff, says he visited the fairgrounds 62 times over the course of the event.
“It was easy to figure out the best time to hit this pavilion or that pavilion, especially the Spirit Lodge, I think it was called, with General Motors, the Roundhouse that I think was run by Canadian Pacific…the Ontario Pavilion, Russian Pavilion, and the various provinces, Quebec, the Maritimes, and so on,” he said.
“When you were in lineups, it was great because they hired people to entertain you: jugglers, magicians, comedians. They would stand while you were waiting and perform near you and then move down the line to perform for the other people. So I remember an overall great experience.”
The celebration, which drew millions of people to the city, gave Vancouver Science World and the first SkyTrain Line — appropriately called the Expo Line.