Spokane will mark the 50th anniversary of the Expo ’74 World’s Fair for two months next year.
The committee that’s coordinating the May 4 to Fourth of July weekend celebration is raising money, says project manager Matt Santangelo. One arm of that is the new Club '74, which people can become a member of with a $74 donation.
“What that’s going to do is it’s going to help us create a calendar of events, activation activities next spring and summer to commemorate the 50th anniversary," he said.
“The real, ultimate goal is to make these events and activations throughout that time period as affordable and as accessible to the broader community and the broader region that we live in so that more people can participate in the celebration," he said.
Santangelo says organizers hope to convince 1,974 people to become members. He says there are celebration-related benefits to joining the club.
“We’re working with local restaurants and some bars for Club 74 drinks or pricing specials so that members can get that, as well as some other type of behind-the-scenes looks at the effort and some of the historical pieces of the fair and the effort here to create this special 50th anniversary," he said.
Santangelo says the two-month celebration will celebrate five themes related to Expo '74: environmental stewardship, tribal culture, arts and culture, recreation and sports, and the legacy of the fair.
"Because this is not the world's fair, it's just the 50th anniversary, some of those events are going to be partnered with existing events (such as Bloomsday) that happen in the spring and summer," he said. "Our opening ceremonies and closing ceremonies will involve some of the environmental pieces such as river cleaning and tree planting that highlight the importance of our sustainability plan here in Spokane and really try to move that forward."
The opening ceremony will be May 4, the opening date of the 1974 World's Fair. The closing ceremony will take place during Independence Day weekend. Santangelo says other possible events in between include a multi-nation tribal powwow. He says the organizers hope to have a good idea what the major events will be by New Year's Day. Read more here.
