HISTORY: A World A’Fair was a 3-day international festival historically held each May at the Dayton Convention Center, in Dayton Ohio.  We showcased booths from 35 organizations representing over 50 countries, all of whom are non-profits as are the organizers.  We ran two full-time stages with performances from both the local groups as well as regional, national and even international performing groups.

FESTIVAL DATES FOR 2023:  After taking off for 3 years (2020-2022) due to Covid, A World A’Fair is back in 2023.  It is scheduled for May 5-7 at Greene County Expo (120 Fairgrounds Road, Xenia, OH  45385).  The Site Committee reviewed 12 different venues and made the final site selection at the September 11th, 2022 meeting. 

NEW VENUE: The new venue will also mean a new look to the festival itself. We have major decisions to make that will affect virtually every facet of the festival. As we decide things we’ll make every effort to document them on this site. So feel free to come back periodically and see how things are coming along.

Food! Dancing! Music!

Costumes!  Cultural Exhibits! Fun!

Obviously we like to have a good time and we try to make sure you and your family will have a good time at the festival.  But in the background our mission is education.   We hope our visitors come away not only well-entertained and well-fed, but also better-educated.

In 2019 we had >25,000 total attendees.  This makes us the Dayton Convention Center’s largest event and the largest international festival in Ohio.   2020 will mark our 47th year, which also makes us the 2nd oldest international festival in Ohio, following Columbus .

Dayton International Festival, Inc (DIFI) is the organizer behind the festival and our Board is made up of the now 35 countries/ethnicities that take part in it.  All of our members are non-profit organizations and DIFI is a 501C3 tax-exempt charity.  With few exceptions everybody connected with running the festival,  manning the booths and performing on our stages is a volunteer.