I. Description of Fairs, Expositions and Exhibitions
A. Definitions

The roots of the phenomenon "Fairs, Expositions and Exhibitions" can be traced back to its language origin.

"Fair" comes from Latin "feria", meaning "holiday" as well as "market fair". This in turn corresponds to the Latin "feriae", which came to mean religious festival.1)
During the 12th century the importance of trade meetings increased; fairs were held close to churches, so that the concepts of religious festival and market fair was combined in the common language.2)

The word “exhibition” was mentioned as early as 1649. It is a derivative of the Latin word "expositio", meaning "displaying" or "putting on a show".3)
Exhibitions are not just collections of interesting objects brought together at a certain place and time. They are human activities, human enterprises, undertaken for definite reasons and in order to achieve certain specified results. They are a form of human exchange, whereby the promoters and exhibitors on the one hand communicate with the visitors on the other. Their results can only be told in terms of further human thought and activity.4)

The word "exposition" goes back to the same origin as "exhibition". Expositions, rooted in old French, tended to be very similar to their English cousins, exhibitions. Expositions were held in facilities built specifically for them. They were organised by either government departments or groups of entrepreneurs with government assistance for the express purpose of promoting trade. Manufacturers were invited to show their goods.5)

In colloquial speech the concepts are used similarly. However, there are some interesting conceptual developments which show the variability of today's exhibition industry. Have a look at the next page.
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