Member States of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) today elected Serbia as host country of Specialised Expo 2027.

After four rounds of voting during the BIE’s 172nd General Assembly, a majority of Member States voted for Serbia’s project to organise the next Specialised Expo in the city of Belgrade under the theme “Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All”, between 15 May and 15 August 2027.

Following the announcement of the election results, the Secretary General of the BIE, Dimitri S. Kerkentzes stated: “On behalf of the BIE, I offer my warm congratulations to Serbia on its election as host country of the next Specialised Expo, which will be organised in Belgrade in 2027. The theme, “Play for Humanity - Sport and Music for All”, has clearly resonated with BIE Member States. We look forward to working closely with Serbia in the coming four years to bring the world together in Belgrade around this topic of great interest.”

Five countries were in the running to host the next Specialised Expo. In addition to Serbia, the other candidates were the United States (Minnesota) with the theme “Healthy People, Healthy Planet: Wellness and Well-Being for All”, Thailand (Phuket) with the theme “Future of Life: Living in Harmony, Sharing Prosperity”, Spain (Malaga) with the theme “The Urban Era: towards the Sustainable City”, and Argentina (Bariloche) with the theme “Nature + Technology = Sustainable Energy. A viable future for humanity”.

Representatives of eligible and present Member States elected the host country in a secret ballot using electronic voting. As no candidate received the two-thirds majority required to win in the first three rounds, Serbia and Spain moved into a final round, where a simple majority of votes cast is required to be elected. The breakdown of each round of voting was as follows:

First round results
United States - 19
Thailand – 16
Serbia – 54
Spain – 42
Argentina - 8
Abstentions – 1

Second round results
United States - 21
Thailand – 15
Serbia – 69
Spain – 48
Abstentions – 1

Third round results
United States - 23
Serbia – 74
Spain – 53
Abstentions – 2

Fourth round results
Serbia – 81
Spain – 70
Abstentions – 3

Expos are global events that explore a chosen theme through engaging and immersive discoveries. Among the different categories of Expos, Specialised Expos are designed to respond to a precise challenge facing humanity and may take place in the interval between two World Expos. Specialised Expos are limited in terms of duration - lasting up to three months - and space - with the exhibition area not exceeding 25 hectares. The site is entirely built by the Organiser, Participants being provided with pavilion space.

The most recent Specialised Expo, Expo 2017 Astana, took place in the capital of Kazakhstan under the theme “Future Energy”, and received almost 4 million visits.