Wait, is this actually happening?

Yes. The federal government approved it and so did AIPH, the international group that sanctions these events. Dates are set for May through October 2031.

Which city is getting it?

Nobody knows yet. Farmington, Hastings, and Rosemount are all still in the running, and organizers say they're still working to lock down the land.

Is this going to raise my property taxes?

No one has proposed that. There's a bill at the Capitol that would send state money to Dakota County for it, but that's state dollars, not your city levy — and it hasn't passed.

How many people are actually going to show up?

Estimates run between 4 and 6 million visitors over the full six months.

What happens to the site after it's over?

A lot of it stays. The USA Pavilion is designed as a permanent year-round destination, and plans include a neighborhood of homes, a hotel, an amphitheater, and a wedding venue.

Expo 2031 Dakota County: Still No Site, But Plenty New

TLDR

Still no site. Farmington, Hastings, and Rosemount are all in the running.
The USA Pavilion got a vision, a director, and a big-name design firm — and it's staying permanently.
There's a mascot now. It's a bee named Wiggli.
A bill at the Capitol would send state money to Dakota County for the Expo.
Six months, May through October 2031, on a 240-acre site.

A World's Fair is coming to Dakota County in 2031. That part is locked in. The federal government approved it, and so did AIPH, the international group that decides who gets to host these.

What's not locked in? Where it's going. And that's the part most of us actually care about.

Nobody Knows Where It's Going Yet

Farmington, Hastings, and Rosemount are all still on the table. Expo 2031's own website says the group is still working to "secure the land required to bring this historic development to life."

That's a big deal for whichever city wins. We're talking about 240 acres with five biodomes, a USA pavilion, pavilions from around 60 countries, a solar farm, and a whole neighborhood that stays behind when it's over. Between 4 and 6 million people are expected over six months.

The University of Minnesota owns thousands of acres near these cities and has been trying to develop it for years. That keeps coming up in conversations about the site.

Dakota County won this partly because it has open ground. Minnesota lost a bid for a different World's Fair in Bloomington a few years back, and space was part of the problem. That's not an issue down here.

What the Winning City Actually Gets

This isn't a fairground that gets bulldozed. Here's what's planned to stay after October 2031:

The USA Pavilion, as a permanent year-round destination
A "future living district" with around 100 tech-forward homes
A hotel, an amphitheater, a broadcast studio, and a wedding venue

Jon Althoff, president of the Regional Chamber of Commerce, called it "economic development in its purest form for Dakota County."

The flip side is real too. Four to six million visitors is a lot of cars on roads that already need work. All three candidate cities are growing fast already — Hastings is staring down a 1,500-unit housing gap and a $30-40 million Highway 61 overhaul, and Farmington just approved 215 new homes at Sawyer Glenn.

The USA Pavilion Got Real

Back in March, the Expo team went to Sydney and unveiled what the USA Pavilion will be. The theme is "Where the American Dream Meets the Living World," built around three things: land, water, and sky. The design pulls from Minnesota's identity as the land where water reflects the sky — living gardens, reflecting pools, open-sky architecture.

They also named Shanna Woodbury as executive director and hired BRC Imagination Arts as creative partner. BRC builds large-scale immersive attractions, the kind you'd see at a major museum. This isn't a folding-table-and-brochure pavilion.

Expo CEO Wendy Meadley said the pavilion "will express the American Dream in its most modern form where innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity work in harmony with the living world."

Here's the part that matters locally: the building isn't temporary. It's designed to stay standing as a year-round destination. Whichever city hosts inherits a permanent attraction — and a permanent maintenance question that hasn't been answered publicly.

About That "Won't Cost Taxpayers" Thing

Organizers have said the Expo won't cost local taxpayers. The budget is $434 million, with an estimated $1.5 billion in GDP impact for the Twin Cities and around 17,000 jobs.

But there's a bill sitting at the Capitol right now. HF3313, and its Senate twin SF3500, would send state money to the Dakota County Community Development Agency for Expo 2031. Six lawmakers signed on, including Dakota County reps Witte, Huot, and Koznick. It was introduced in May 2025, referred to committee, and hasn't moved since.

So what's true? Nobody has proposed raising your property taxes for this. That checks out. But "won't cost taxpayers" is doing some work in that sentence — there's a live request for state dollars routed through a county agency, and infrastructure costs for a 240-acre site haven't been detailed anywhere public. Roads, water, and sewer to a site that size aren't free, and that bill usually lands local.

Worth asking about when the site finally gets announced.

Oh, And There's a Bee

On World Bee Day in May, Expo 2031 introduced its mascot: Wiggli, a curious scout bee. He's kicking off a five-region American tour.

A scout bee is the one that leaves the hive, finds somewhere worth going, and comes back to tell everyone. For an event trying to bring millions of people to a field in Dakota County, that's about as on-the-nose as it gets.

Same day, Expo launched a Global Pollinator Network with a company called HiveTracks — a platform connecting biodiversity, horticulture, tech, education, and farming.

The Bottom Line

The big question is the same one it was a year ago: which city gets it? Until that's answered, everything else is prep work.

If you live in Farmington, Hastings, or Rosemount, watch your city council agendas. A land deal this size can't happen quietly. There will be public meetings, and there will be a chance to speak.

Next up on the calendar: AIPH Fall Congress in September, and an Expo Connect event in November.

We'll keep on it.

Sources: Expo 2031 · Star Tribune · MN Legislature HF3313