In Milan, the gates of the World Expo will open on Friday

Milan - The gates of Expo 2015 will open in Milan on Friday. The theme of the world exhibition, subtitled Food for the Planet, Energy for Life, is the search for sufficient quality food and water resources for all the inhabitants of the Earth. The Expo, which will last until October 31, will also feature the Czech Republic, which will showcase its achievements in science and technology, as well as Czech gastronomy.
A total of 145 countries will exhibit at the Milan Expo, and around fifty heads of state and government are expected at the grand opening. Organizers estimate that about 20 million visitors will come to northern Italy during the six-month event. Allegedly, ten million tickets have already been sold.
According to estimates, the Czech pavilion, designed by architects Ondřej Chybík and Michal Krištof, could see up to 5,200 visitors daily.
Italian media have ranked the Czech pavilion among the top five. It consists of a simple white structure made up of several recyclable modules that can be reused after disassembly. Therefore, the pavilion could serve as an office building or kindergarten after the Expo.
The pavilion, covering an area of 550 square meters, also includes a pool, symbolizing the tradition of the Czech Republic in spa tourism and the age-old desire for the sea. There will also be restaurants serving Pilsner beer and various dishes ranging from game specialties to utopenci, rollmops, or fried cheese.
The main theme of the Czech exhibition is water and its purification through nanotechnology. The pavilion features twelve square meters of a living forest, where footage from miniature cameras on a large projection surface aims to provide a unique experience in observing plant life.
Czech Day is set for May 15 and will include, among other things, musical performances and street theater scenes.
The extensive and prestigious event has its opponents in Italy as well. The No Expo movement criticizes the exhibition for wasting public funds, opaque contracts, and creating new debts during the economic crisis.
The largest of a series of demonstrations is expected to take place during the opening of Expo 2015 on Friday, when organizers of the protest gathering expect around 30,000 people to show support. Italian authorities fear that members of the anti-capitalist movement Blockupy will join opponents of the world exhibition, and that the demonstrations may turn violent. Approximately 2,000 Italian police officers will ensure the safety of the visitors at the exhibition itself.
The first exhibition that can be considered a predecessor of international Expo exhibitions took place in May 1851 in London. Among Czechoslovak participations, the most successful exhibition was at Expo 1958 in Brussels, which received the highest award – the Golden Star, and dozens of other accolades. Milan is hosting the Expo for the second time, having first held a world exhibition in 1906.