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.
13. The Snail Race
A little boy watches the snail race at Glasgow Garden Festival in July 1988. Photo: Brian Stewart
14. BT’s big telephone
A troop of Brownies sitting on a BT giant telephone at the Glasgow Garden Festival in May 1988. Photo: Allan Milligan
15. The Ink Spots stop by
American group the Ink Spots - L-R: Harold Winley, Sonny Hatchett, King Drake and (back) Jim Nabbie - visit the Glasgow Garden Festival, May 1988. Photo: Donald MacLeod
16. Charles and Diana open the Garden Festival
Diana Princess of Wales and Prince Charles officially opened the Glasgow Garden Festival in April 1988. Photo: Allan Milligan