A free exhibition of cartoonist and illustrator Sir Quentin Blake‘s memories of the 1951 Festival of Britain at London’s Southbank Centre opens next month.
The much-loved illustrator and author has turned his recollections of Festival into a new installation for you to discover across the site.
With these illustrations, created as part of the South Bank’s 75th anniversary celebrations, Sir Quentin Blake pays tribute to some of the many legends who have graced the Centre’s stages over the decades. At the same time, they honour the Londoners of all backgrounds who fill the riverfront each and every day.
You can see a procession of Sir Quentin’s characters outside the Royal Festival Hall, with more illustrations to be discovered throughout various indoor spaces.
Look out for rock stars, ballet dancers, authors, skaters, parkour athletes, dub poets, jazz singers and many more!
The Festival of Britain was a showcase for British achievements in the arts, architecture, science and technology held in 1951. A nationwide series of events, exhibitions and festivities with a main site on the Southbank in London, it took place at a time when Britain was still feeling the effects of the Second World War, and it offered a vision of what the future could be – celebrating British industry, arts and science.
Sir Quentin Blake, who talked about visiting the Festival for Web of Stories, has been drawing ever since he can remember. He taught illustration for over twenty years at the Royal College of Art, of which he is an honorary professor. He has won many prizes, including the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, the Eleanor Farjeon Award and the Kate Greenaway Medal, and in 1999 he was appointed the first Children’s Laureate. In the 2013 New Year’s Honours List he was knighted for services to illustration. He is the patron of the South Ken Kids Festival, organised by the French Institute in London.
The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, the UK’s only permanent place for illustration, opens May 2026, in Clerkenwell, London. Find out more here, or sign up for the mailing list.
The South Bank is also hosting a brand-new stage show, Quentin Blake’s Mrs Armitage on Wheels, between Wednesday 18th February and Saturday 21st February 2026.
Meet Quentin Blake’s magical, marvellous inventor extraordinaire, as she cycles at full tilt onto stage. Featuring puppetry and live music, this is a musical adaptation of the award-winning BBC animated series Quentin Blake’s Box of Treasures, celebrates the power of imagination and the importance of community.
Presented by esk and Roast Productions. Quentin Blake’s Mrs Armitage on Wheels has been developed in association with Eagle Eye and Little Angel Theatre and based on the BBC animated series Quentin Blake’s Box of Treasures, available on BBC iPlayer.
The puppets in the show have been designed by Maia Kirkman-Richards, who recently told A Young(ish) Perspective translating Quentin Blake’s distinctive drawings and animated energy into puppets that live and breathe on stage has been an “exciting challenge, because it’s all about getting the right balance between the responsibility to be faithful to those recognisable, loved characters while also wanting to push my own creativity and add some of my own imagination into the fold.
“With Quentin Blake’s illustrations specifically it’s been a joyful task. His illustrations are so distinctive and expressive and have a real mischievous energy about them, so it was really exciting to translate them into 3D objects with that same sense of mischievous movement.”
• Quentin Blake: The Southbank Parade runs from Tuesday 17th February to Sunday 8th November 2026 | Exhibition Details here
• The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, the UK’s only permanent place for illustration, opens May 2026, in Clerkenwell, London. Find out more here, or sign up for the mailing list
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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