We mentioned buying this Festival of Britain brochure in our last blog – Five Flea Finds.

We’ve really enjoyed flicking through it.

Quite a few people have expressed an interest, so we thought we’d share some of its contents with you.

The Festival was held in 1951 – it celebrated the centenary of The Great Exhibition held in 1851 – but was also intended to showcase Britain in the mid twentieth century.

What an exciting event in must have been – with the new wave of optimism after the Second World War.

Exhibitions were held around the country, the main site occupying a position on the South Bank in London which was completely redeveloped.

The Festival had a great influence on architecture, interior and product design in the years that followed.

The brochure contains about 100 pages in total.

It highlights the main attractions – exhibition spaces & their contents, new structures (including the Royal Festival Hall and the famous Skylon), the designers involved etc.

As is often the case with publications from this era, there are some fantastic advertisements too…

…bold, colourful and forward-looking.

The brochure is a must have item for Festival of Britain collectors – but also of broader interest to fans of modernism & mid twentieth century design.