Expo 2027 Belgrade is entering a new phase of preparation, with construction of the exhibition complex giving way to technical and fit-out work by participating countries.
The specialised Expo will run from 15 May to 15 August 2027 on a 25-hectare site in Surčin, under the theme ‘Play for Humanity – Sport and Music for All’.
At the heart of the expo will be a dedication to social change to counter a wide variety of challenges, including «declines in mental and physical health, a loss of social cohesion and belonging, outdated and unequal systems of education», as well as «technology that undermines human values, a global sense of permacrisis and burnout and fragile and unsustainable economic models».
«Expo 2027 Belgrade will be a place where people, ideas and cultures come together to explore how play – in all its forms – can help us build a more resilient, united and joyful world,» says expo CEO, Danilo Jerinić.
A planned Sport for All programme will use a hybrid pitch combining elements of different sports and children’s games. Its two strands will be ‘World Games’ and ‘Ambassadors of Play’. Organisers are also planning sports and play spaces across the wider site.
The music programme will be designed around a flexible stage and auditorium, with activities including interactive sound installations, collective music-making and performances from traditional and contemporary musicians. The wider programme is expected to include sporting activities, cultural performances, concerts, workshops, innovation showcases and business conferences.
The event’s thematic framework groups experiences under Power of Play, Play for Progress and Play Together. The organiser says these strands will explore play’s connections with resilience and sustainability, innovation and imagination, active society and peace. That framework is intended to give the 93-day programme a changing rhythm, with different events and activities through the run.
Expo Commissioner Jagoda Lazarević said the national pavilions would allow visitors to “travel around the world in a single day”, with each country bringing its own interpretation of the theme, culture, ideas and innovations. The organiser forecasts more than four million visitors and more than 8,000 events and activities.
The wider Surčin masterplan includes a 52,000-seat National Stadium and an aquatic centre as part of a broader district development.
The project’s legacy plan also extends beyond the exhibition. Expo 2027’s proposed permanent facilities include a new Belgrade Fairground, an auditorium, an Expo museum, an International Play Forum, a Centre for Innovation and Creativity, a National Centre for the Promotion of Sport and Physical Activity and a National Centre for Musical Innovation.
The wider development will include schools, preschools, sports halls, homes, a hotel, retail, playgrounds and public spaces. The organiser says the masterplan is intended to keep all of the site and its infrastructure in active use after the Expo closes.
Dimitri Kerkentzes, secretary general of the Bureau International des Expositions, said in October that construction was progressing according to schedule. The technical meeting marked the point at which participating countries began moving from planning towards preparing their own pavilions and programmes on site.
You can sign up for Attractions Management news free here.
TheThe music programme will be designed around a flexible stage and auditorium, / Expo 2027 Belgrade
Experiences will be grouped under “Power of Play”, “Play for Progress” and “Play Together” / Expo 2027 Belgrade
Immersive experiences and contemporary visual arts will be a focus / Expo 2027 Belgrade
