The Festival of Britain emblem, designed by Abram Games, from the cover of the South Bank Exhibition Guide, 1951

The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition which opened in London and around Britain in May 1951. The official opening was on May 3.^[1] The principal exhibition site was on the south bank of the River Thames near Waterloo Station. Other exhibitions were held in Poplar, East London (Architecture), South Kensington (Science) and the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow (Industrial Power) as well as travelling exhibitions that toured Britain by land and sea. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 454 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (2147 × 2834 pixel, file size: 489 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This work is copyrighted and unlicensed. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 454 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (2147 × 2834 pixel, file size: 489 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This work is copyrighted and unlicensed. ... Abram Games (London, 1914—London, 1996), British graphic designer. ... Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the River Thames in southern England. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... Poplar is an area of the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ... The junction with Old Brompton Road and Pelham Street, outside South Kensington tube station. ... The Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland is a mixed-use arts and sports venue that opened as an exhibition centre in 1927. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ...

At that time, shortly after the end of World War II, much of London was still in ruins and redevelopment was badly needed. The Festival was an attempt to give Britons a feeling of recovery and progress and to promote better-quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities following the war. The Festival also celebrated the centenary of the 1851 Great Exhibition. It was the brainchild of Gerald Reid Barry and the Labour Deputy Leader Herbert Morrison who described it as "a tonic for the nation". Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Great Exhibition: Paxtons Crystal Palace enclosed full-grown trees in Hyde Park. ... The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... Deputy Leader in the Westminster system is the second-in-command of a political party, behind the party leader. ... Herbert Morrison For others named Herbert Morrison, see Herbert Morrison (disambiguation). ...

The South Bank

Construction of the South Bank site opened up a new public space, including a riverside walkway, where previously there had been warehouses and working-class housing. There was, however, opposition to the project from those who believed that the money (£8 million) would have been better spent on housing. (An Ealing Studios film was made about working-class resistance to the demolition that the festival required and featured a London family barricading themselves into their terraced house to prevent it being demolished to make way for the Festival of Britain. The house is finally saved when red-faced Whitehall bureaucrats decide to feature it in the Festival as a “typical English home”). (This article is about the area of London called South Bank. For the similarly named area of Brisbane, please see South Bank Parklands, Brisbane) The South Bank is the area in London on the southern bank of the River Thames near Waterloo station that houses a number of important cultural... Sterling may refer to: Sterling (car), a British automobile manufacturer. ... Ealing Studios, a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London, claims to be the oldest film studio in the world. ...

In 1948, the young architect Hugh Casson, 38, was appointed director of architecture for the Festival and he broadmindedly sought to appoint other young architects to design its buildings. He was knighted in 1952 for his efforts in relation to the Festival. For other uses, see Architect (disambiguation). ... Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson (23 May 1910 – 15 August 1999) was a British architect, interior designer, artist, and influential writer and broadcaster on 20th century design. ...

The layout of the South Bank site was intended by the organisers to showcase the principles of urban design that would feature in the post-war rebuilding of London and the creation of the new towns. These included multiple levels of buildings, elevated walkways and avoidance of a street grid. Most of the South Bank buildings were International Modernist in style, little seen in Britain before the war. All except the Royal Festival Hall were later destroyed by the incoming Churchill government in 1953, who thought them too 'socialist' for their taste. ^[2] This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A new town, planned community or planned city is a city, town, or community that was designed from scratch, and grew up more or less following the plan. ... The Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart, Germany (1927) The Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart, Germany (1930) International style, also known as the Modern movement, is a primarily American offshoot of Bauhaus architecture that was exported to various parts of the world. ... The Royal Festival Hall reopening celebrations The Royal Festival Hall is a concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. ... Churchill redirects here. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Design and the Festival buildings

The graphic designer for the Festival of Britain was Abram Games who had been Official War Poster artist and whose iconic Britannia symbol of the Festival remains memorable. Abram Games (London, 1914—London, 1996), British graphic designer. ...

The main South Bank site buildings and their architects were:

• Dome of Discovery, perhaps later the inspiration for the Millennium Dome (designed by Ralph Tubbs)
• Skylon, an unusual cigar-shaped aluminium-clad steel tower supported by cables (designed by Hidalgo Moya and Philip Powell).
• An old shot tower
• Transport, designed by Arcon
• Festival Administration Building, by Maxwell Fry, Jane Drew and Edward Mills
• The Lion and the Unicorn pavilion celebrating the history of the British nation (designed by R.D. Russell and R.Y. Gooden)
• Land of Britain, by H.T. Cadbury Brown
• Minerals of the Land, by the Architects Co-Partnership
• Power & Production, by George Grenfell Baines and Felix Samuely
• Sea and Ships, by Basil Spence
• The Royal Festival Hall
• A mural painted by the British Modernist artist John Tunnard
• A mosaic designed by Victor Passmore
• Sculptures by Barbara Hepworth.

A public housing estate in Poplar, named the Lansbury Estate after George Lansbury, was also built as part of the festival, and is still extant. There is a church called Trinity Independent Chapel, a public house named The Festive Briton (and now called Callaghans) in a corner of Chrisp Street Market, also part of the estate, with The Festival Inn nearby. The Dome of Discovery was a tempory building built by architect Ralph Tubbs as part of the festival of Britain which took place on Londons south bank in 1951. ... The O2 redirects here. ... Image:Dome of Discovery. ... The Skylon was a futuristic-looking 88-metre high cigar-shaped tower built of aluminium and steel, which was a talking point of the Festival of Britain in 1951. ... [[Image:Powell and Moya flats and houses Gospel Oak, London. ... Sir Arnold Joseph Philip Powell (born, died 5 May 2003 in London aged 82), usually known as Philip Powell, was a ground-breaking British post-war architect. ... A shot tower is a tower designed for the production of shot balls, which were used for projectiles in firearms. ... Impington Village College Edwin Maxwell Fry, usually known as Maxwell Fry (born 2 August 1899; died 3 September 1987) was an English modernist architect. ... The Lion and the Unicorn are time-honoured symbols of the United Kingdom. ... Professor Sir George Grenfell-Baines OBE DL (30 April 1908 to 9 May 2003) was an English architect and town planner. ... Felix J Samuely (1902-1959) was a Structural engineer. ... Sir Basil Urwin Spence, OM, OBE, RA, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral and the Beehive, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modernist/Brutalist style. ... The Royal Festival Hall reopening celebrations The Royal Festival Hall is a concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. ... Salle des illustres, ceiling painting, by Jean André Rixens. ... John Tunnard (May 7, 1900 - December 18, 1971), was a British artist and designer. ... Synthetic Construction (White and Black) 1965-66 Victor Pasmore (3 December 1908 – 23 January 1998) was an English artist and architect. ... Hepworths Family of Man in bronze, 1970, at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. ... Poplar is an area of the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ... The Lansbury Estate is a public housing estate in the Poplar area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets named after a famous Poplar politician, George Lansbury. ... George Lansbury (21 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician, socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. ... Trinity Chapel 1841-1944 Now a little used Methodist chapel, the original Trinity Independent (Congregational) Chapel was designed in 1840-41 by William Hosking FSA, east of London at Poplar. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Chrisp Street Tower Chrisp Street Market was designed and built as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951. ...

Also as part of the Festival in London, a new wing was built for the Science Museum, to hold the Exhibition of Science, and a so-called FunFair (actually an amusement park) and "Pleasure Gardens" – with attractions such as a Fountain Lake, a "Grotto", a "Tree Walk", and the Guinness Festival Clock – were constructed in Battersea Park. Parliament Square was redesigned as well. Image:Science Museum bernoulli exhibit. ... Battersea Park peace pagoda The bandstand in Battersea Park The cover of Petula Clarks 2001 box set, Meet me in Battersea Park Battersea Park is a 200 acre (0. ... Battersea Park peace pagoda The bandstand in Battersea Park The cover of Petula Clarks 2001 box set, Meet me in Battersea Park Battersea Park is a 200 acre (0. ... For other uses, see Parliament Square (disambiguation). ...

While not formally part of the Festival the architects of a new office building at 219 Oxford Street that was completed in 1951 incorporated carved stone plaques depicting festival scenes. These are from top to bottom, the Royal Festival Hall, Games' Festival of Britain Logo and the Dome of Discovery and the Skylon.

Events associated with the Festival

Stamps commemorating the Festival of Britain - note the Festival icon on the 4d issue

• The Festival was the first time that steelpan music had been played in Britain, thanks to the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra.
• An exhibition of sculptures organised by the Arts Council in Battersea Park brought Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth to wider public notice.
• There were two exhibitions at the Whitechapel Art Gallery as part of the Festival Programme: a display on the History of East London and a show of craft and popular art forms.
• A commemorative British crown coin (5 shillings in the money of the time) was also minted with a striking of over 2 million, and it remains inexpensive.

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 350 pixelsFull resolution (1309 × 572 pixel, file size: 296 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Used British postage stamps (Expired Crown copyright) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 350 pixelsFull resolution (1309 × 572 pixel, file size: 296 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Used British postage stamps (Expired Crown copyright) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old... Steelpan (also known as steeldrums or pans, and sometimes collectively with the musicians as a steelband) is a musical instrument and a form of music originating in Trinidad and Tobago. ... The Arts Council of Great Britain was a Quango dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Britain. ... Battersea Park peace pagoda The bandstand in Battersea Park The cover of Petula Clarks 2001 box set, Meet me in Battersea Park Battersea Park is a 200 acre (0. ... Reclining Figure (1951) outside the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, is characteristic of Moores sculptures, with an abstract female figure intercut with voids. ... Hepworths Family of Man in bronze, 1970, at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. ... The Whitechapel Gallery, founded 1901, was one of the first publicly-funded galleries for temporary exhibitions in London. ... Crown reverse, 1953 and 1960. ...

Images of the Festival of Britain

Several images of the South Bank Exhibition can be found on the internet^[3] while a filmed retrospective view of the 1951 Festival of Britain on the South Bank, with special reference to design and architecture and entitled Brief City (1952), was made by Massingham Productions Ltd. for the British Government as a public information film. It can be also be seen at the Internet Archive^[4]

The Festival was also filmed by documentary-maker Humphrey Jennings, as Family Portrait and it is featured in scenes in the feature films Prick Up Your Ears and 84 Charing Cross Road. Humphrey Jennings, (August 19, 1907 Walberswick, Suffolk - September 24, 1950 Greece), was a British film-maker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organization. ... Prick Up Your Ears is a 1986 film about the gay playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. ... 84, Charing Cross Road is the title of a book by Helene Hanff, published in 1970 about the long correspondence (1949-1969) between Hanff, a resident of New York City, and Frank Doel of the Marks & Co. ...

Legacy

Although the Festival was extremely popular and made a profit, it was conceived and executed in haste and with little thought for subsequent use. The Labour Party, who had championed the Festival, lost power while it was open and Terence Conran has speculated^{[citation needed]} that the haste with which the main site was cleared was an act of political revenge by the incoming Conservative Party government. Profits made from the Festival were retained by the Greater London Council and were used to convert the Royal Festival Hall and to establish The South Bank. The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... Sir Terence Orby Conran (born in Esher Surrey on October 4, 1931) is an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. ... The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and the oldest political party in the United Kingdom. ... Arms of the Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. ... The Royal Festival Hall reopening celebrations The Royal Festival Hall is a concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. ... (This article is about the area of London called South Bank. For the similarly named area of Brisbane, please see South Bank Parklands, Brisbane) The South Bank is the area in London on the southern bank of the River Thames near Waterloo station that houses a number of important cultural...

Aside from this, the architectural legacy of the Festival is mixed: many architects, especially those working for local government, enthusiastically copied its forms and materials, but without too much consideration of their durability, resulting in a stock of buildings that have since been much criticised.

The 221B Baker Street exhibit of Sherlock Holmes apartment is still displayed in a pub near Charing Cross railway station. 221B Baker Street is the fictional London residence of the detective Sherlock Holmes, created by author Arthur Conan Doyle. ... A portrait of Sherlock Holmes by Sidney Paget from the Strand Magazine, 1891 Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. ... Charing Cross Charing Cross railway station is a central London railway terminus. ...

Politically, the Festival of Britain has become a symbol for the incomplete promise of the immediate post-war period. The support of Peter Mandelson for the Millennium Dome project was perhaps an attempt by New Labour to engage with a similar symbolism, the promise of the new Millennium, as Mandelson is the grandson of Herbert Morrison.^{[citation needed]} This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... The O2 redirects here. ... New Labour is an alternative name of the British political Labour Party. ... Herbert Morrison For others named Herbert Morrison, see Herbert Morrison (disambiguation). ...

Books

• Banham, Mary and Hillier, Bevis, A Tonic to the Nation: The Festival of Britain 1951, London: Thames & Hudson, 1976 ISBN 0500270791
• Rennie, Paul, Festival of Britain 1951, London: Antique Collectors Club, Ltd., 2007 ISBN-13 9781851495337 ISBN 1851495339

Bevis Hillier was born on 28 March 1940 in Redhill, Surrey. ...

See also

• World's fair
• List of world's fairs
• UK topics
• Lansbury Estate — East End show-piece housing associated with the Festival of Britain

Worlds Fair is any of various large expositions held since the mid-19th century. ... This is a list of worlds fairs (with notable permanent buildings built). ... This is a list of topics related to the United Kingdom. ... The Lansbury Estate is a public housing estate in the Poplar area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets named after a famous Poplar politician, George Lansbury. ... The term East End is most commonly used to refer to the East End of London. ...

References

External links

• The Festival of Britain
• Festival of Britain exhibit from the Museum of London
• The Festival of Britain Society
• The Festival of Britain - Exploring 20th century London
• http://www.flickr.com/groups/southbankcentre/ (A Flickr group dedicated to pictures of the Southbank Centre)
• Internet Archive Films:
  • Festival In London (1951)
  • Brief City (1952)