The National Archives has published images, drawings and artwork online for the first time to mark the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain. It is part of the Archives Awareness Campaign which celebrates the UK's archives.

In 1947 the government decided it was time for a "tonic for the nation" following a decade of wartime austerity and the festival was planned. The event would mark the centenary of the Great Exhibition and be a "national display illustrating the British contribution to civilisation, past, present and future".

The festival opened on 3 May 1951, bringing a splash of colour to post-war Britain. Some eight million people visited the exhibitions on London’s South Bank during the summer.

Events included displays about the land and people of Britain, pleasure gardens at Battersea Park along with fetes and arts festivals in nearly 2,000 cities and towns.

The National Archives holds many thousands of items which tell the festival's story. These include papers which reflect the origins of the idea, construction plans, photographs, sketches and colourful designs, plus all the official government memos.

The records show many government departments took an interest in the planning of events. Foreign Office correspondence includes ministerial discussions and briefing papers.

The festival took place against the backdrop of the Korean War, which broke out in June 1950. Officials were concerned that if festivities had been cancelled it would have been interpreted abroad as a signal that Britain was preparing for war with the Soviet Union.