Every year, Liverpool hosts a lot of events, festivals, conferences, etc. Festivals play a special role in the cultural life of the city. A festival is a mass event that includes a review or demonstration of achievements in certain fields. In this article, we will tell you about the International Garden Festival, which was held in Liverpool in May-October 1984. Learn more about the history of the festival at liverpoolski.com.
History of the festival
The International Garden Festival was held in Liverpool from May to October 1984. It was the first such event not only in the city but also in the whole of Great Britain. Its goal was to attract as many tourists as possible and to breathe new life into the tourism sphere of Liverpool.
The exhibition was held on a 950,000 square metre derelict industrial estate overlooking the River Mersey. The organisers built 60 separate gardens there. The large Festival Hall was the central element of the venue and contained numerous indoor exhibits.
There were also other interesting locations at the event, namely a walk of fame featuring local stars, a light railway system and public works of art (the Yellow Submarine, a statue of John Lennon, a Blue Peter ship, the Wish You Were Here tourist sculpture, a red dragon slide, a big red bull sculpture and Kissing Gate).
Festival’s logistics
The festival featured a railway system with a 15-inch minimum gauge providing transportation around the site. The system consisted of a main line that provided movement between key locations of the venue. Passenger carriages were purchased specifically for the fest. By the way, the costs of their building and renting were partially compensated by the National Westminster Bank. In turn, the logo and name of the bank were depicted on each car.
As mentioned above, the Festival Hall was the epicentre of the Garden Festival. After the event, it was used as an amusement park called The Pleasure Island. Over time, half of the site was built up with residential houses, while the dome of the hall was demolished at the end of 2006.
Reconstruction of the site
In 2006, Langtree and McLean announced plans to build more than 1,000 new homes at the site, as well as restore the gardens from the International Garden Festival. The reconstruction was announced three years later and included the restoration of Chinese and Japanese gardens, lakes and associated watercourses, paths, forest sculptures, etc. The project was financed from various sources. Reconstruction and restoration of the site lasted for several years. As a result, they restored two pagodas in the oriental gardens and Moon Wall as well as created new lakes, waterways, waterfalls, a new pedestrian path to the promenade and a new parking area. The Southern Grasslands area with a magnificent view of the River Mersey was opened in August 2023.
The International Garden Festival was held in the 20th century. It was the first such event not only in Liverpool but also in the whole of Great Britain. It set an example, and later, similar festivals were held all over the country. Residents and guests of Liverpool admired the beauty of that festival for more than one month. It was so impressive that it was decided to reconstruct its territory in the modern time.
We hope that our article was informative and that you learned more information about Liverpool.
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