www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13085653
60 years ago the Festival of Britain was conceived as a "tonic for the nation", and set about celebrating all that was seen to be British at the time.
Would such a sentiment work today, and would another Festival be as popular? Or have we become too cynical; is it unfashionable to celebrate Britishness?
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Thats how I see the Olympic Games, a national celebration,
I would love to go back in time and see the Crystal Palace in all its glory.
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>>I would love to go back in time and see the Crystal Palace in all its glory<<
I be reckoning that was a bit more-than 60 years ago,effendi.
Me and Danny (my mate) used to play around the Festival of Briton site on the Southbank near Waterloo Br.
back in the late 50's it woz.
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Isn't that what the Millenium Dome was supposed to be?
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>> is it unfashionable to celebrate Britishness? <<
Well if you known internationally for illegal wars, getting drunk and causing a nuisance or heaven forbid, Prince Andrew, perhaps better to keep thee mouth shut about being British.
We are a country so diverse now as to be nothing in particular culturally, we are bits of everywhere else and that chocolate box 50's version of Britain is positively offensive to the diversity officers and their ilk.
Honestly, I dont know what Britishness is, let alone why I would want to celebrate it.
My Anglo-Indian brother-in-law's family in India still aspire to the 1950's model of Britain though, my sister said its all rather quaint in their community, like the land time forgot.
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Britain has never been liked, that didn't matter a damn: it was respected, though and feared probably.
Now we are not respected. That is today's utter tragedy.
That is the legacy of spineless government, of all so-called "different" political persuasions.
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Roger makes us sound like a playground bully who has been found out.
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Britain has always been a diverse country, made up of and built by immigrants,
Celts, Romans, Scots, Irish, Welsh, Normans, Angles, Saxons, Vikings and all manner of nationalities,
That's what makes Britain Great!
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Every new(ish) government toys with the idea of using something like a festival or image boost to tinker with the alleged 'feel good factor'. Remember 'Cool Britannia' (shudder)?
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Dog is right. Britain isn't so much a "nationalist" country as an "internationalist" one. That's one of the reasons why it has found it so difficult to participate in the EU-building exercise.
As Churchill said: ’If Britain must choose between Europe and the open sea, she must always choose the open sea.’
The legacy of this is the most diverse domestic culture in Europe. Sure, other countries have immigrant communities, but none have as many different cultures as the UK. I know that it creates strains and challenges, but I think we make a better job of rubbing along together than most countries. (Look at Belgium, for heaven's sake).
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A new Festival of Britain? - Zero
