The Festival of Britain 1951

Article Luke Matcham. Edited and Researched by Tom Burke.

The summer of 2012 has seen Britain in all its glory, from the tremendous efforts of British athletes during the Olympics, to the worldwide celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee. The past few months have proved that, despite the depressing atmosphere of economic downturn and crisis, a nation can succeed in capturing the world’s attention. In this respect, similarities can be drawn with the summer of 1951. 

At the turn of the 1950s Britain was still a thoroughly bruised nation. Years of bombing and destruction during the Second World War had taken their toll on both the physical structure of Britain’s cities and the hearts and minds of its people. Yet hope remained. The belief for a brighter future was present throughout society and the horrors of war demanded that never again could such conflict be seen. 

It was from these beliefs that the defining concepts of the Festival of Britain emerged. Originally conceived by the Royal Arts Society, the Festival was planned to mark the centenary of The Great Exhibition of 1851. The Great Exhibition had enchanted people from across the globe, with its impressive feats of industry and architecture, and the Festival aimed to accomplish the same goals.

Encompassing aspects from across the society and landscape of Britain, the festival encapsulated the best that the nation had to offer, from science exhibits and art exhibitions to radical new architectural concepts and designs. Events for the festival took place across the nation, with fixed exhibits in Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast and travelling venues touring the country by both land and sea. Widely considered the defining event of the Festival however, was the South Bank Exhibition, lining the Thames. 

The South Bank construction displayed modernist style buildings, mostly unseen prior to the war, offering a stark contrast to the traditionally Victorian surrounding city. They offered the prospect of reconstructing the nation in radical new ways, which, although perhaps overly idealistic, demonstrated the limits of the engineering of the day. Reconstruction even formed an integral part of the body of the festival itself, with examples such as the conversion of a bombed barge dock becoming a basin for model yachts. Cases such as this demonstrated the ingenuity of British designers and the triumph over adversity which could be accomplished. The South Bank exhibition alone drew in crowds in excess of eight million during the summer of 1951, with visitors from across both British and international society, mingling together in awe and amazement. 

The cosmopolitan feel of the festival proved to the common people that, in an age of intolerant and assertive national politics, unity could be found in a cause for celebration. Yet even under such circumstances, the celebration demonstrated that party politics would eventually intervene. The festival became a symbol of the Labour government of the time and after their defeat in the autumn of 1951, Winston Churchill calling for the demolition and clearing of much of South Bank. Enigmatic structures such as the Skylon tower were pulled down and sold for scrap, relegated to the memories of the millions who had been enthralled by its design. 

Yet the legacy of the Festival was not completely lost in the following years. Certain structures endured, such as the enigmatic Royal Festival hall, which lines the bank of the Thames to this day. Of more importance than the physical remnants however, was the consciousness of the British people. For them, the summer of 1951 would continue to represent a moment of celebration in contrast to the gloomy, post-war depression felt by much of the nation. 

When drawing parallels with our own summer of celebration, lessons should be learnt. While the enduring memories of Olympic success are already ensured, the physical structures, such as the Olympic Park, can also be preserved. The summer should not be allowed to become a statement of politics, but should be taken as a modern representation of a ‘Glorious Britain’. 

• The Festival of Britain ran from June to August in 1951, with exhibitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland 

• The Festival has a firm material legacy, with buildings created during the festival, such as the South Bank Centre an arts complex comprising the Royal Festival Hall, the National Film Theatre, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Purcell Room and the National Theatre. It also revived the tradition of performing medieval ‘Mystery Plays’ in York and Cheshire, which continue to this day.

• A highly politicised event, the Festival was condemned by Tory politicians, including Churchill, as “three dimensional socialist propaganda”. This view was not entirely unfounded; the Labour PM Clement Attlee saying the autumn election in 1951 would mean the Party benefited from the festival’s popularity. In the event, the Conservatives won the election.

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