The Festival of Britain was a nationwide exhibition celebrating Britain’s excellence in design, technology, industry, architecture, science and the arts. Its cultural heart was a purpose-built spectacular showcase on the South Bank.
It was open from from May 3 to September 30, 1951 as a tonic for a bombed-out run-down Britain, six years on from the end of the Second World War and amid the scaling down of rationing.
Source: The Festival of Britain – tonic for the nation – South London News