Theresa May proposes post-Brexit Festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

  • Brexit

Theresa May has unveiled plans for a post-Brexit Festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The festival, inspired by the 1851 Great Exhibition and the 1951 Festival of Britain, is scheduled to take place in 2022, the year of the next general election.

The prime minister said the festival would "showcase what makes our country great", saying: "We want to capture that spirit for a new generation, celebrate our nation's diversity and talent, and mark this moment of national renewal with a once-in-a-generation celebration."

The Government hopes the festival will help bring billions of pounds of investment into post-Brexit Britain.

But, perhaps unsurprisingly, the announcement drew plenty of tongue-in-cheek responses on social media.

Many people on Twitter painted a grim picture of what they expected the festival to look like.

The 1951 Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair, with events across the country attended by millions of people.

The main site of the festival was on London's South Bank and it was designed to inspire feelings of optimism after the Second World War.

Crowds at the Festival Gardens fun fair in Battersea Park during the 1951 Festival of Britain. Credit: PA
The Skylon structure and a locomotive on the South Bank. Credit: PA
The boating lake of the Festival Gardens in Battersea. Credit: PA