Hurry, rush to get a seat!

[Bill Cotter]

July 1962

Imagine how demoralizing it must have been to perform for "crowds" like this?

While most of Century 21 was a huge success and well attended, the events staged in the Arena usually performed to very small audiences. Perhaps it was the same situation that was later seen in NY, where folks skipped the circus and stage shows, figuring they wanted to see something really unique at a world's fair. In any event, seating was never a problem for these shows.

[worldsfairent]

The show must go on, but OUCH!

[Doug Seed]

Daily practice sessions at 10:00, 12:00, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00 and 8:00.

[Gorilla]

I've seen many photos of the waterskiers, but mostly looking to the left. Any idea what all those "houses" are on the right side of the photo?

[expoboy]

Any idea what the buildings with the red roofs at the end of the oval are?

[Bill Cotter]

Yes, that was the Spanish pavilion, which hosted a popular flamenco dance group, restaurant and exhibits.

[Themepark Nut]

Isn't this a shot of the Mercury Outboard show?

[Bill Cotter]

It's the "It's the Water" ski show sponsored by Olympia Beer. Mercury may well have been an official participant.

[JonasClark]

Notice the fountain is not running, which it almost always was.

The stadium, which existed before the fair, is still there. The path you see people walking up to the upper left is still there, and exits through a gate just to the side of the grandstand, directly across from the Armory entrance; the gate is rarely open, but the one time I found it unlocked I made sure to explore the route thoroughly. The Spanish pavilion is, of course, gone, and there's a wall at the top of that hill, which is now full of trees and bushes.

At upper left, immediately to the right of the Armory building, is the blocky steeple of Sacred Heart Church, which is still there.

To this day, most sporting events I see in the Memorial Stadium are underattended.

[expo1853]

The 1964-65 NY Fair had the same problem with it's arena, low attendance. One problem was it was so far away from the main gate and the monorail should have been built to go all the way around the fair, not just the amusement area, to get people there better.

[expoboy]

I think the real problem with these types of shows at world's fairs is fairgoers have to make a choice. What would you choose? The GM Futurama, GE Progressland, Ford Magic Skyway or a water ski show. Dick Buttons' Ice Extravaganza suffered a similar fate.

[Bill Cotter]

The Florida water ski show actually did quite well in 1965. I have many pictures of a good sized crowd. True, some days it was pretty empty, but overall I think 1965 would have been rated as a success, especially compared to what it replaced from 1964.

[Randy Treadway]

The Florida water ski show actually did quite well in 1965. I have many pictures of a good sized crowd. True, some days it was pretty empty, but overall I think 1965 would have been rated as a success, especially compared to what it replaced from 1964.

The post-Fair report from the Florida World's Fair Commmission confirms this. 1965 attendance figures were good.