Southbank Centre launches callout for memories of the Festival of Britain to celebrate its 75th anniversary

As it celebrates its 75th year, the Southbank Centre is seeking memories of the Festival of Britain from people who visited in 1951, either at the custom-built site on the South Bank – home to the Royal Festival Hall – or at one of the many regional events that took place across the nation. There is a portal for submissions on the website at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/festivalofbritain, and the collected stories will be added to the Southbank Centre archive, woven into the living history of the Grade-II listed brutalist site and preserved for future generations.

The Festival of Britain was intended to be “a tonic for the nation,” lifting national spirits with creativity and innovation after the preceding decades of war and economic insecurity. The Festival is estimated to have been visited by half the national population across the UK. Leading cultural figures who have shared their memories include Dame Jacqueline Wilson, who recalls that “my parents and I went to the South Bank because there was dancing after dark, which was one of the most exciting things ever,” whilst poet Roger McGough has said, “I remember when I was 14 being brought to London by my parents and being overawed by the Festival of Britain celebrations. Until then I thought only Liverpudlians knew how to enjoy themselves.”

The Royal Festival Hall is the last surviving remnant of that Festival site and today is the jewel in the crown of the Southbank Centre, which this year is celebrating 75 years since the Festival, the building of the hall, and the catalyst for the creation of the Southbank Centre itself. Honouring the spirit of the Festival, the Southbank Centre’s anniversary programme is as uplifting as it is wide-reaching, with the scale and ambition to spread a message of creative innovation across the nation.

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