Festival Of Britain Turns 60
I’ve been researching the subject, and this weekend there’s a four-day party on the site of the original Festival Of Britain to celebrate the 60th anniversary, but sadly there’s no Skylon. But I went down there this afternoon (where it was 26 degrees, hotter than Ibiza) and found beach huts, bunting, a beach and other things that had very little to do with the Festival of Britain.
Charming as it was, it shared one characteristic with its original – it was austerity-driven, a bit small, tatty and end-of-the-pier, incredibly littered and messy. The South Bank British events are often a bit like this, high on promise – except for the excellent Brazilian events. However, the peculiarity of having August in April was enough to make it a novelty.
And there was one very nice item on sale – a 60th anniversary Festival of Britain T-shirt featuring the original logo, which I’ve always liked.
Further along the river, I like this little plinth that allows you to look at St Paul’s from a nicer angle…
13 comments on “Festival Of Britain Turns 60”
Comments are closed.
That logo must make a terrific shirt. Since it doesn’t have reference to the anniversary you could almost pass it off as an original except that I’ll bet there weren’t commemorative T-shirts for sale in 1951.
The mayor’s South Bank Festival that I saw was a lot of fun, varied events and not either dingy or littered. Good weather, too.
“it was austerity-driven, a bit small, tatty and end-of-the-pier, incredibly littered and messy.”
Missed a good joke there Chris.
Alan (diving right back under duvet…)
Very nice logo, I must try and find that t-shirt…
Found the actual t-shirt, it’s not quite so colourful as your pic, which displays the 100£ canvas print… ó____ò
Is that £100 for a t-shirt, Patrick? Unless I’m being dim, if I paid that much for a top I’d expect it to make me a cup of tea afterwards.
Let’s not get into the price of clothes or I’ll tell you how much I have paid for a pair of jeans in the past. (Admittedly DSquared but still…)
Well, I ain’t payin’ no 100 pounds for no wall poster.
100 quid for a t-shirt!? o.0
I once bought an entire job interview outfit (shoes, trews, shirt and jacket) for under NZ$100. No, I didn’t get the job, but that’s not the point. Ok, it probably *is* the point, but still…
I hope those jeans bought you dinner at the very least!
And I hope they were more flattering than the cargo pants you’re wearing to view St. Paul’s.
Where do we get the nerve, the unutterable gall, to make these personal comments? Oh, right, you post the pictures and open the forum.
Er, – that’s not me, Helen!
Yersh! Sorry about that, Chris. Can I plead the dark glasses and shadows effect?