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I remember that the whole experience was like being on another planet, in a Sci-Fi way... It was like walking into a film set, with such a feeling of optimism. We were told that this was a new world that would be built all over the country and that one day everything would be like the Festival. It was perhaps the most exciting thing that I can remember of my youth. (contributor David Nissen, aged 9 in 1951) Why not contribute your memories?

The Festival of Britain was optimistic - about the future and about the potential of using science to create a better life for all. It promised a safer, more efficient, more comfortable, and more enjoyable future. Certainly many visitors remember the Festival of Britain as an occasion when they first saw something new which was later to become a part of their every day life. But in keeping with its time, the Festival was not wholly accurate in its promises and predictions. There was much that it did not see and much that it perhaps chose not to see. In later years attitudes towards the power of science were to become much more complex.

There are no trick miracles here, and no mechanical marvels. Instead, here is the modern world itself, standing straight and handsome on its base of science. ('Exhibition of Science' guide book)

My favourite part of the Festival was the special building at the Science Museum, where I first saw a working computer and some little robots, which responded to light by moving towards the source. (contributor Michael Rugman, aged 9 in 1951) Why not contribute your memories?