Expo '98 (1998 Lisbon Specialised Expo) was an official specialised World's Fair held in Lisbon, Portugal from Friday, 22 May (opening ceremony on 21 May), to Wednesday, 30 September 1998. The theme of the fair was "The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future", chosen in part to commemorate 500 years of Portuguese discoveries. The Expo received over 10 million visitors in 132 days, while 143 countries and many organizations were represented.
Before
The idea to organize a World's Fair in Portugal originated in 1989 between two Portuguese, António Taurino Mega Ferreira and Vasco Graça Moura, who were in charge of organizing the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Vasco da Gama's arrival in India in 1498.
Once government support was obtained, Ferreira led the bid at the Bureau International des Expositions, which in 1992 declared Lisbon the winner, against the other contender Toronto, Canada. The state-owned company Parque Expo was formed to make the Fair a self-sustaining event, with revenue coming from admission tickets and, especially, sales of real estate and parcel lots at the Expo's emplacement.
The first Commissioner of Expo '98 (and Parque Expo's CEO) was António Cardoso e Cunha. He was replaced in 1997 by José de Melo Torres Campos, after a general election resulted in a change in government.
The area chosen for the Expo '98 was a strip that covered in Lisbon's east-end alongside the Tagus river. The area had been landscaped in 1942 as a Hydroport, for docking the hydroplanes that crossed the Atlantic to and from the US. When the modern jet planes rendered the hydroplanes obsolete, the place became an industrial park of containers, polluting industries and slaughterhouses which had seen a growing degradation over the decades.
As a result, the Expo '98 was fully built from scratch. Every building was pre-sold for after-Expo repurposing thus ensuring that, after the expo closed, the site would not be left semi-abandoned, as had happened with previous expos, particularly Seville Expo '92. As a reminder of the site's industrial past, only a refinery tower was kept and repurposed.
To support the expected influx of visitors, an extensive access program was devised, including:
- a new bridge across the river, the Vasco da Gama Bridge (then the longest in Europe)
- a new main multi-modal terminal, featuring trains, metro, buses, and taxis, called Gare do Oriente, by architect Santiago Calatrava.
The total number of visitors of the Expo '98 reached 10,128,204, for a duration of 132 days. Admission prices (adult) were 5,000 escudos PTE (US$34 at then-exchange rates) for one day, 12,500 escudos ($84) for three non-consecutive days and 50,000 escudos ($334) for three months. The Oceans Pavilion, built to be the Lisbon Oceanarium after the Expo closed, had the longest lines. Other popular pavilions, with lines of up to five hours on busier days, included Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Germany, and Virtual Reality.
Logo, Mascot and Music
thumb|right|235px|Mascot "Gil"
The Expo logo symbolizes the Sea and the Sun. It was conceived by Portuguese Augusto Tavares Dias, creative director in an advertising agency, and selected from 1,288 entries.
The Expo mascot was conceived by the Portuguese duo of painter António Modesto and sculptor Artur Moreira. It was selected from 309 entries. It is named Gil, after Portuguese navigator Gil Eanes. The name was chosen by high school student José Luís Coelho, from 765 entries. Gil turned the RTP mascot and can be see on the station main events.
The official music theme for the Expo '98 was called "Pangaea" and was written by Nuno Rebelo. It combined chants and instruments from the five continents over an epic full orchestral score.
After
Expo '98 closed on 30 September 1998. The last day saw more than 300 thousand visitors enter, there to see the closing fireworks show, the largest ever presented in Portugal. The site remained closed until 15 October 1998, when it reopened as Parque das Nações (Park of the Nations), a free-access park, keeping the gardens, Oceanarium (Europe's then-largest aquarium), observation tower, funicular, and the Virtual Reality pavilion. Other buildings were re-purposed for the opening, including:
- the main entrance (sun door), converted to Centro Vasco da Gama, a regional shopping mall (opened on 27 April 1999)