00:00I declare the Festival of Britain open.
00:05And from the Festival of Britain in 1951 to today, the South Bank Centre celebrates 75 years.
00:15Next, the South Bank Centre is marking the 75th anniversary of when it first opened its doors to the public
00:22for the Festival of Britain in 1951.
00:26The arts complex originally started with just the Royal Festival Hall.
00:30It was constructed for the festival, a joyous celebration after years of war.
00:35Today, the South Bank Centre is thought to be one of Europe's largest arts centres, with more than 11.6
00:42million visitors a year.
00:44Here's Aisha Baksh.
00:46Tons of rubble from bombed sites have already been collected to help in its construction.
00:50On the south side of the River Thames, a new arts centre was being built after years of war.
00:58I declare the Festival of Britain open and wish it a universal success.
01:07And in 1951, the Festival of Britain was created here.
01:11Its aim was to provide some hope and inspiration, showcasing the best of British art, science, design and technology.
01:18As well as a concert hall, there was also a Dome of Discovery and a huge sculpture called the Skylon.
01:27One of its millions of visitors was Brian Everett, who aged just seven, came in from Brentwood in Essex with
01:33his parents.
01:34I really, truly thought that was a rocket.
01:37I really, I didn't know what a sculpture was then.
01:40So I really thought it was, I'd look at it and think, well, it's not going to take any people,
01:45but it's going to fly on its own.
01:47And I just couldn't take my eyes off it, thinking that's what's going to happen.
01:51Anne Jones was nine years old when she also visited with her parents and came by bus from East London.
01:57All the streets are mostly lined with bomb sites, rubble all the way.
02:04And then arriving here and the great crowds of people and this strange thing in the middle called a Skylon,
02:11sort of suspended in space,
02:13which we all sort of stood around and gasped at, how has it been kept up?
02:17The Skylon, along with most of the other exhibits, were dismantled.
02:21But the concert venue, the Royal Festival Hall, is of course still standing.
02:26And the Southbank Centre now includes the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Hayward Gallery.
02:31We work very closely with a lot of local communities who use our spaces for free and quite rightly.
02:37It's been talked about as the People's Palace, the Nation's Living Room, but also we're a national institution.
02:44Well, the anniversary celebrations kick off this weekend,
02:47but there'll be special events held across all the venues here of the Southbank Centre for the rest of this
02:53year.
02:54Ayesha Baksh, BBC London.
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