Festival of Britain
Videos
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair held throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Funded chiefly by the government at a cost of £12 million, it was intended to give
The Festival of Britain emblem – the Festival Star – designed by Abram Games, from the cover of the South Bank Exhibition Guide, 1951
A view of the South Bank Exhibition from the north bank of the Thames, showing the 300-foot (91 m) tall Skylon and the Dome of Discovery
London Transport RF13 (LUC213)
Campania in festival dress
Skylon (Festival of Britain)
Videos
The Skylon was a futuristic-looking, slender, vertical, cigar-shaped steel tensegrity structure located by the Thames in London, that gave the illusion of floating above the ground, built in 1951 for
Festival of Britain
…described the Festival as a "triumphant success" during which people: flocked to the South Bank site, to wander around the Dome of Discovery, gaze at the Skylon, and generally enjoy a festival of national celebration. Up and down the land, lesser festivals enlisted much civic and voluntary enthusiasm. A people…
The Skylon at the Festival of Britain, 1951
The Skylon illuminated at night
Skylon model at the Museum of London