The Glasgow Garden Festival was the first international event to be held in Glasgow in over 50 years following the Empire Exhibition in 1938 and arguably marked a turning point in the fortunes of the biggest city in Scotland. With substantial investment in the event, the Festival signalled a rebirth of the city from a historically industrial city to a hub of culture with Glasgow being named as the European City of Culture in 1990.
If you visited, you may remember the Coca Cola rollercoaster and the Clydesdale Bank tower. Here we take a look back at he hugely successful Garden Festival, which attracted over 4 million visitors to the city, making the Glasgow event the most popular of the five Garden Festivals held across the UK.
9. The Clydesdale Bank tower served as a beacon for the festival
the Clydesdale Bank tower as seen from the ground. It was sorely missed following its deconstruction (and then reconstruction in Rhyl, a town in North Wales). It’s successor was built 13 years later in the Glasgow Tower at Glasgow Science Centre.
10. The Central Milling Space
The Central Milling Space at Glasgow Garden Festival in April 1988 Photo: TSPL
11. The Crystal Pavillion
The Crystal Pavilion at Glasgow Garden Festival in April 1988. Photo: Allan Milligan
12. The Broom Milk Bar
Dr George Roberts and wife Jean pose with cocktails beside their Morris Cowley, parked outside their 1930s-style Broom Milk Bar at the Glasgow Garden Festival in April 1988. Photo: Donald MacLeod