Prince Albert might be best known for the debate over whether he actually had ‘that piercing’. But he also helped devise the Great Exhibition, an embarrassment of world riches and inventions that drew 6 million visitors to Hyde Park in 1851.
Held in a giant glass building called The Crystal Palace (which was moved and rebuilt on Penge Common, where it was later destroyed in a fire) the exhibition made £186,000 profit, a hefty sum for 1851. Prince Albert used those funds to help develop the V&A, the Natural History Museum, the Royal Albert Hall – pretty much every grand institution on Exhibition Road – creating his ‘Albertopolis’.
Obviously that is a pretty tough act to follow, but over this weekend in June, many of those grand institutions are joining forces to launch 2024’s Great Exhibition Road Festival, two days of events inspired by the 1851 bonanza. Everything is free (if you register), and the programme is as mixed as a family bag of Revels. Head down if you fancy an AI silent disco, constructing mini robots or learning about revolutionary medical technology.
Who knows? Maybe the fest will be so revolutionary, someone will be referencing it in Time Out in 168 years time, in an article transmitted straight into the prefrontal cortex of every Londoner. And maybe they’ll sit there in their shiny exoskeletons, laughing about how we were all oh-so-impressed by a 3D-printed musical instrument.