Up with People has been involved in six World Expos or World's Fairs in its history: Montreal in 1967, Osaka in 1970, Spokane in 1974, Knoxville in 1982, Brisbane in 1988 and Seville in 1992.

Following are personal recollections from  alumni who were there ...

Steve Woods (65A and more):
 “King Cole, who was on UWP Board at the time, organized [our performance at] Spokane (Expo ’74). King was responsible for the rebuilding of downtown Spokane and had an urban renewal consulting firm. A small group of 30 performed during the summer (three months). 

 “Knoxville ‘82 was also a small group -- 25-30 who performed two months. They were sponsored by General Electric Company and performed in the GE Energy Pavilion.

 “Both of these groups were put together specifically for the Expos and following their performances the students went back to their casts.

 “The other Expo that UWP was involved with was in Japan. We performed for one week in July at Expo ’70 in Osaka. The venue was an outdoor amphitheater, and I was in that group. It was a cast of 30 people who toured in Alaska for three weeks and then went to Japan. Following the stay at Expo, which was sponsored by Pepsi Cola, the cast toured Japan for one month.”

World Expo Spokane, Washington, 1974

Pat Murphy (72A and more):
 “I have always been fascinated with World Expos. I had attended a couple of them prior to joining UWP. Having the chance to spend an entire summer at a World Expo AND to be there with UWP at Expo 74 in Spokane, Washington, was one of life's most unforgettable experiences for me. An international setting, fresh new ideas everywhere and fireworks every night -- what more could you ask for!”

Willie Knowles (70B and more):
 “It was nice to be anchored in one place for a while. I was only there for the first month of the fair before I left for Greece and Italy with Cast A 74. Seven shows a day, plus interacting with the audience and other fair guests and celebrities made for long days. It was a different atmosphere in that this was more of an environmental exhibition as opposed to most other Expos and World's Fairs.”

Kim Griswold Holmberg (73B&C and more):
 “My little Cast C (all 30 of us) had spent months traveling to almost every city on the west coast, promoting Expo '74 coming to Spokane, Washington. The theme for the World’s Fair that year was something along the line of "People Are the Energy". And Up With People was a perfect vehicle for that! Our cast was trimmed down to about 20 members. And the crowds came!! Virtually every single show was a sellout, and we even had our own groupies!! 

 ”But the message of Up With People was not lost ... our music was one of the highlights of the World's Fair, with people and dignitaries from all over the world coming to hear what we had to say. It was truly a showcase for the world to see what our message was. And we related to so many people, young and old. THAT was part of what made us so unique. Expo '74 was a phenomenal experience for me, and for Up with People.” 
 
 

Retta Bellamy Overturf (76A and more):
 “It was so nice to be the "hometown girl" and to be able to perform for four months in my own state of Tennessee. We were so fortunate to have King Cole right there with us as an advisor, as an experienced World's Fair leader, as an UWP board member, but most importantly, as a great friend to all of us. We were privileged to interact with the workers of the China Pavillion and were the ONLY people who were allowed to do a private show just for them. They all worked around the clock and were so appreciative that we could come to THEM so they could experience more than their own work.

 “The USSR (at that time) National Swim Team also was at the University of Tennessee that summer, and we did a private show for them and socialized with them. This also was unheard of, but it was an experience I shall never forget. We traded stories, as well as items that we coveted from one another's culture. I still have some of the momentos from our exchange. 

 “We developed a close relationship with the Phillipines Pavillion, mainly becuase one of us was Indonesian, and often exchanged meals and social times with one another. 

 “To be a part of a peaceful, positive gathering of nations that at times have been at war with one another was not only a humbling experience but one of such honor. My worldy views have been forever reshaped because of my experience at the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee.”

Tim Houlton (79D):
“The cast was formed through selection by experienced UWP staff so that not only talent base and international presence were covered, but also maturity, responsibility and ability to represent UWP in many situations, both low- and very high profile.

“For me this was probably the best UWP experience I had. A group of close friends who I loved and had tremendous respect for, a very talented group from a performance perspective, and a naturally caring and outwardly focused attitude was felt so we had an impact beyond just our shows. Our presence was definitely felt at the 1982 World's Fair.”

Mike Holt (81D):
 “I was in Cast “K”, as we called ourselves, in ’82. Seems like quite a long time ago now! I was the sole Cast K performer from Cast D of 81-82 – there were a couple from Cast A and maybe one from B. Everyone else was from previous years".

 “A few details I can recall now: We performed mostly in the GE pavilion, with the occasional evening show in the main amphitheater (which was mainly used for the ‘Sing Tennessee’ show). We did five half-hour shows a day, plus the odd evening show, six days a week. First show was at noon, last show finished at 5:30. We did interviews after the 5:00 show for any interested students. We were there from mid-June to mid-September, I think. Overall it was a lot of fun, great people to work with, no travel, and we got PAID (which was a big deal after performing free, on the road all the time, for a year)!" 

Pam (Fischer) Koepf (79D):
 “It was such a blessing to be a part of an alumni cast -- to have the opportunity to reconnect with former cast members and to meet new alumni that shared the same bond. The condensed, intensive two week rehearsal period in Asheville, NC bonded us as a cast quickly (and got us in shape!). To be a part of a World's Fair was so exciting! It was fantastic to be able to meet people from all over the world without even leaving Knoxville, Tennessee! Highlights included the private performance from the Chinese diplomats who all attended in uniform grey, the fraternizing with young Russians and performing for them as well, the Philippino friends we made and the performances and parties that we shared with one another. Our cast was international, the environment was international and the combination was powerful. I will always consider the summer of 1982 to have been one of the most rewarding seasons of my life.” 
 

David Fox (88E):
 “Expo 88 in Brisbane was awesome! So much of the world all in one park celebrating our best. My host parents were from France and Malaysia. Before moving to Australia they lived in London, Kenya and Alberta. Being a part of Expo was great for us. No setups or strikes, just brief performances, two main shows, presentations and plenty of time to enjoy Expo! For me, the funniest moment from Expo was during the last performance at the River Stage. Abbie's dress kept falling down during the entire Mexico dance!”

Megumi Toyoda (88E):
 “I can't believe that we joined to Brisbane Expo around 16years ago ... It was such a wonderful experience and great opportunity to participate for The World Expo for me.

 “I remember I was singing a Japanese song at most of the stages. However, we had a chance to look around pavilions during our free time. I met many Japanese staff working at the Japanese pavilion. I learned about my country Japan more while I was at the Expo, not being in my country, and all of the different countries were just right next to me!!! Of course, I learned about other countries more, too.

 “Now, everybody is very excited about Aich Expo! Hope to see you all there.”

Rick Vescio (88E):
 “I was on the UWP advance team for World Expo '88 in Brisbane, Australia. I worked with two other cast members, Sharon Cook and Dani Walther, and we spent most of our time at the Expo getting to know Australia and its customs as well as getting to know the customs of all the countries represented at the World Expo. 

 “The World Expo was the best representation of what it would be like to have every UWP cast all in one place at one time. All the workers and volunteers at the Expo shared a common desire to "Show the World" what we were about and how many things we shared in common.

 “The business community in Brisbane, especially the Rotary Club, really made our time there memorable and helped us to find "billets" for our cast members. Sandy, my host mom, still keeps in contact to me to this day(16 years later) and I have to say she is one wonderful person who still represents the ideals of the UWP family.

 “The crowning moment of my time there was when the cast arrived and performed at the River Stage on the main Expo Grounds. They received a standing ovation, very rare at the Expo, along with the accolades of many other Expo performers. Cast E '88 also wowed the local community in Brisbane with our outreach to their local community through our community service projects and our educational programming. I live in Chicago now, but because of my UWP experience at the World Expo, I consider Brisbane, Australia, my home as well. Good on ya mate!"

Joel Rushworth (92E)
 “Seville was our first stop in Europe shortly after returning from our summer break. We flew from Boston to Brussels, and then to Madrid. From Madrid it was by bus, not air-conditioned, in August, to Seville. We stayed at a youth hostel quite a ways outside of Seville.

 “Before leaving North America we had spent some time learning the Coke theme song, as they were our sponsor at the Expo. Upon arrival we had one day at the hostel to rehearse the flag processional and show the Coke executives that we were ready to go. It was stinking hot and we were learning the flag processional outside on a black-topped parking lot. I seem to recall that we had to do a demonstration for some Coke executives and that it was at this point that we found out that we had learned the Coke theme song in the wrong language! A hurried tutorial and by the end of the day we had relearned the Coke theme song in Spanish! I still can, to this day, belt out that song in Spanish, and we only sang it for three shows.

 “That night a third of the cast were informed that they would be going in at 2:00am to set up the stage, while the other two-thirds would arrive at around 6:00am. So when the group that got to "sleep in" arrived at 6:00am, we found the first group lying about the open air show site trying to sleep on the audience benches.

 “Many in the cast were still asleep leading up to the 2:00pm show -- the opening bars were playing and somebody ran through the back area shaking people awake. Fortunately they still had their costumes and makeup on from the first show and were able to run out on stage in time to make it. The 2:00 show went off well, but by this time I was so tired that no sooner had the last bars of the show sounded than I was off the back of the mic group risers and racing to get my body into some prime real estate: two large and well cushioned chairs pushed together to form a cocoon like bed. I was so tired, in fact, that when somebody came back and shook me awake saying "Joel, Joel, Evander Holyfield, world heavyweight champ, is out front and we need you to take a picture" all I could do was point to my camera and roll over to go back to sleep. Again, there is a great shot of a couple of the guys with Evander in the yearbook.

 “Our third show was around 5:00 and after that we were free to check out the Expo. I don't remember this, but a quick thumb through the yearbook has a reference to a 3:00am strike of the stage, which is probably correct in light of our difficulties getting the trailer in for set up.”