Melbourne Centennial Exhibition

37°48′22″S 144°58′13″E / 37.80611°S 144.97028°E / -37.80611; 144.97028TimelineOpening1 August 1888Closure9 March 1889^[1]Universal expositionsPreviousMelbourne International Exhibition (1880) in MelbourneNextExposition Universelle (1889) in Paris

The Melbourne Centennial Exhibition was organised to celebrate a century of European settlement in Australia. The Exhibition Building, constructed in 1880 for the Melbourne International Exhibition, was extended and reused. The Centennial Exhibition focused on Australia itself, and emphasised music and painting that attracted many visitors.^[2] However the Exhibition wasn't recognised by the Bureau of International Expositions as a World's Fair.

Parer & Higgins Co. paid £1250 to operate the bar and light refreshments, one of only three areas where the sale of alcohol was permitted.^[3]

References

^ The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 11 March 1889, p.6 [1]
^ "Ceremonial Key - Melbourne Centennial Exhibition 1888 Opening, Victoria, Australia, 1888". Retrieved 24 May 2019.
^ Parer, Ben (16 February 2018). "Parer & Higgins serve alcohol to the world". Parer History. Retrieved 29 January 2024.

World exhibitions

Bureau International des Expositions (BIE)

Retroactively
recognized
expositions

London 1851
Paris 1855
London 1862
Paris 1867
Vienna 1873
Philadelphia 1876
Paris 1878
Melbourne 1880
Barcelona 1888
Paris 1889
Chicago 1893
Brussels 1897
Paris 1900
St. Louis 1904
Liège 1905
Milan 1906
Brussels 1910
Turin 1911
Ghent 1913
San Francisco 1915
Barcelona 1929
Seville 1929
Chicago 1933

BIE-recognized
Universal
expositions

BIE-recognized
specialized
expositions

BIE-recognized
horticultural
exhibitions (AIPH)

Not BIE-
recognized

Africa	Freetown 1865 Cape Town 1877 Kimberley 1892–1893 Johannesburg 1936–1937
Asia	Calcutta 1883–1884 Hanoi 1902 Nanking 1910 Semarang 1914 Hangzhou 1929 Taihoku (Taipei) 1935 Nagoya 1937 Clark 1998 Shenyang 2006 Chiang Mai 2011–2012 Udon Thani 2026
Europe	London 1760 Dublin 1853 Manchester 1857 Porto 1865 Stockholm 1866 London 1871–1874 Lyon 1872 Vienna 1873 Amsterdam 1883 Liverpool 1886 London 1886 Copenhagen 1888 Glasgow 1888 Frankfurt 1891 Prague 1891 Lyon 1894 Oporto 1894 Berlin 1896 Stockholm 1897 Glasgow 1901 Cork 1902 London 1905 London 1906 Marseille 1906 Dublin 1907 London 1908 Zaragoza 1908 London 1910 Dresden 1911 London 1911 London 1912 Lyon 1914 Cologne 1914 London 1914 Kristiania 1914 Malmö 1914 London 1921 Marseille 1922 Gothenburg 1923 British Empire Exhibition 1924–1925 Antwerp 1930 Stockholm 1930 Paris 1931 Porto 1934 Glasgow 1938 Stockholm 1943
North America	New York City 1826–1897 Bryant Park, New York City 1853 Atlanta 1881 Louisville 1883–1887 New Orleans 1884 Atlanta 1887 San Francisco 1894 Atlanta 1895 Nashville 1897 Omaha 1898 Buffalo 1901 Charleston 1901–1902 Portland, Oregon 1905 Jamestown 1907 Seattle 1909 Knoxville 1913 San Diego 1915–1917 Bronx 1918 Philadelphia 1926 San Diego 1935–1936 Dallas 1936 Cleveland 1936–1937 Dallas 1937 San Francisco 1939–1940 Chicago 1940 New York City 1964–1965
Oceania	Melbourne 1866 Sydney 1870 Melbourne 1875 Brisbane 1876 Sydney 1879 Adelaide 1887 Melbourne 1888 Dunedin 1889 Christchurch 1906 Auckland 1913–1914 Dunedin 1925 Wellington 1939–1940
South America	Lima 1872 Santiago 1875 Quito 1909 Buenos Aires 1910 Rio de Janeiro 1922

^†Postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic • World portal

v t e List of national and world's fairs in Australia
New South Wales (1788-1901)	Metropolitan Intercolonial Exhibition (Sydney, 1870) Intercolonial Exhibition (Sydney, 1875) Sydney International Exhibition (1879) Intercolonial Juvenile Industrial Exhibition (Parramatta, 1883)
Colony of South Australia (1834–1901)	Adelaide Industrial Exhibition (1877) Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition (1887) Century Exhibition of Arts and Industries (Adelaide, 1900)
Colony of Victoria (1851–1901)	Melbourne Exhibition (1854) Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia (Melbourne, 1866) Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition (Melbourne, 1875) Australian Juvenile Industrial Exhibition (Ballarat, 1878) Intercolonial Juvenile Industrial Exhibition (Melbourne, 1879) Melbourne International Exhibition (1880) Victorian International Exhibition of Wine, Fruit, Grain & other products of the soil of Australasia with machinery, plant and tools employed (Melbourne, 1884) Victorians Jubilee Exhibition (Melbourne, 1885) Jubilee Juvenile and Industrial Exhibition (Geelong, 1887) Melbourne Centennial Exhibition (1888) Australian Industrial Exhibition (Ballarat, 1895)
Colony of Western Australia (1851-1901	Western Australian International Mining and Industrial Exhibition (Coolgardie, 1899)
Colony of Tasmania (1856 - 1901)	Tasmanian International Exhibition (Launceston, 1891) Tasmanian International Exhibition (Hobart, 1895)
Colony of Queensland (1859-1901)	Intercolonial Exhibition (Brisbane, 1876) Intercolonial Exhibition (Brisbane, 1896) Queensland International Exhibition (Brisbane, 1897)
Australia (since 1901)	Centennial Empire Exhibition (Adelaide, 1936) World Expo 88 (Brisbane)