The Festival of Britain


In 1951 an austere Britain tried its hardest to shake off the post-Second World War blues by mounting a nation wide festival to show who the British people were, what the Land of Britain was and British achievements, past and present, with a preview of their continuing future. The centrepiece of the Festival of Britain was the South Bank Exhibition in London, in sight of the Houses of Parliament, a collection of modern buildings housing displays relating to all aspects of British life. This exhibition was designed to tell a story mainly through the medium of tangible things, not words. In other parts of London, there were also exhibitions devoted to Architecture (in the East End), 1851, Books and Science (all in South Kensington) and up river in Battersea, a Festival Pleasure Gardens to provide much needed light relief from the more educational displays.

As well as 22 Arts Festivals geographically from Aberdeen to Bournemouth, there were also major exhibitions in Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow, while two travelling exhibitions visited 10 coastal cities and towns by sea and 4 by land in the Midlands and North of England. In over 2,000 towns and villages through Britain, special events were put on to celebrate the Festival. Although the Festival was quintessentially a British affair, it was hoped that the message it gave would appeal to the rest of the world so a comprehensive promotional campaign was mounted to attract visitors from overseas, using a fleet of red London buses. A special trade delegation visited the Americas in a jet-powered flying boat to promote the Festival.

The Festival of Britain finished at the end of September 1951 and subsequently the South Bank Exhibition was demolished, leaving only the new Royal Festival Hall as a memento. However the memories of the vertical feature known as the "Skylon", the Dome of Discovery from the South Bank Exhibition plus the 'Emett' Railway and the "Guinness Festival Clock" from the Festival Pleasure Gardens still linger on in most people's minds some 50 years on, as does Abram Games' unique symbol.

Any event as large as the 1951 Festival of Britain is bound to generate a mass of information, ephemera, photographs and artefacts. The Festival of Britain Society was founded in 1989 by a small group of like minded people who realised they were in a unique position to collate some of this material and in so doing to preserve the memory of this memorable occasion. The Society has grown since then and in the 50th anniversary year of the Festival of Britain welcomes new members. Annual membership only costs £7.00 for quarterly newsletters and an annual convention at the Royal Festival Hall in order to meet other society members. The Society is also staging dedicated exhibitions this year to commemorate the 50th anniversary.

For further details on joining the Festival of Britain Society, telephone George Simner on 020 8471 2165 or write to 23 Langton Avenue, East Ham, London E6 4AN with a SAE or email: george@fobs.freeserve.co.uk or: www.packer34.freeserve.co.uk