The fair was held from May 12 to November 11, 1984, and adopted the theme "The World of Rivers: Fresh Water as a Source of Life," showcasing the vital role of freshwater systems.

The exposition's proximity, both geographically and temporally, to the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, may have divided public interest.

The government of Louisiana spent $5 million on the fair; that amount was overseen by Ralph Perlman, the state budget director, who tried to obtain maximum use of the funds.

This was a gondola lift that took visitors across the Mississippi River from the fair site in the Warehouse District to Algiers on the West Bank.

The Fair was held along the Mississippi River front near the New Orleans Central Business District, on a site that was formerly a railroad yard.

Next to the convention center on the corner of Tchoupitoulas and Henderson streets is a steel and fiberglass bust of Neptune and the head of one of his alligators.

[3] Despite its problems, the fair is fondly remembered by many New Orleans residents, particularly for its noteworthy post-modern architecture, such as the groundbreaking Wonderwall designed by noted architect Charles Willard Moore and his partner William Turnbull.

A bronze copy of Ivan Meštrović's sculpture Christ and the Samaritan Woman was exhibited at the Vatican pavilion and is found today at the Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.