Event    From /5/1951  To /9/1951

Festival of Britain

'A tonic for the Nation', The Festival was intended to cheer us all up after WW2, and incidentally to celebrate the centenary of the 1851 Great Exhibition. The symbol for the Festival was designed by Abram Games.

All the Festival buildings on the south bank except the Royal Festival Hall have since been demolished and replaced by other buildings forming the much-loved (British irony) arts complex known as The South Bank. The Festival of Britain was a nationwide event with two other sites in London: the Pleasure Gardens in Battersea and the Live Architecture Exhibition in Poplar, originally 'Neighbourhood 9' but then renamed the 'Lansbury Estate', after George Lansbury. Diamond GeezerCaroline's Miscellany and A London Inheritance have all done good posts about this Estate. The City of London laid out a garden beside St Paul's, Festival Gardens.

The Festival Pleasure Gardens were installed in the northern part of Battersea Park. These included a water-garden and a tree-walk. There was also a fun fair on the section between Central Avenue and what is now the children's zoo. The BBC has photos of many of the items.

2019: Ian Visits spotted a Festival of Britain bench in an Essex village.

2019: In the 1957 film 'The Key Man' / 'Life at Stake' (not be be confused with the 1955 film with the same two titles), at about 57 mins, two characters meet in the Thameside Restaurant under Waterloo Bridge, left over from the Festival. This nice piece of modernist architecture remained until 1962.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Festival of Britain

Commemorated ati

Dome of Discovery

{The plaque is laid flat on the ground.} This commemorative plaque was set i...

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Festival of Britain - Arts

The relief shows the Royal Festival Hall, surrounded by a violin, saxophone, ...

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Festival of Britain - Churchill Gardens

See a similar plaque in N7 for information about them.

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Festival of Britain - London Pride

London Pride. Frank Dobson CBE, RA. 1886 - 1963. Commissioned for The Festi...

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Festival of Britain - N16

Festival of Britain, 1951, Award for Merit.

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Show all 19

Other Subjects

Richard Ansdell

Richard Ansdell

Painter specialising in animals and genre scenes. Born Liverpool. c.1846 moved with his wife and family to Kensington, initially into 39 Victoria Road. 1850 he also took on the house next door, num...

Person, Art

1 memorial
Mel Calman

Mel Calman

Cartoonist. Born Melville Calman at 64 Linthorpe Road, Stamford Hill. After trying unsuccessfully to work for Punch Magazine, he supplied pocket cartoons for the Daily Express, but left because he ...

Person, Art

2 memorials
Marcus Stone

Marcus Stone

Born Marcus Clayton Stone in London, the son of artist Frank Stone who was friends with Thackeray and Dickens. Trained by his father, he was exhibiting at the Royal Academy before he was eighteen. ...

Person, Art

1 memorial
Simon Barber

Simon Barber

Mural painter.

Person, Art

1 memorial
William Cleverly Alexander

William Cleverly Alexander

A wealthy banker and art collector, who bought Aubrey House in 1873 for about £15,000. He was an important patron of Whistler. He died when he fell down the stairs of his country home Heathfield Ho...

Person, Art, Benefactor

1 memorial