Liverpool retro: 11 photos that capture the famous 1980s Garden Festival with Yellow Submarine and Red Dragon
A look back at Liverpool’s International Garden Festival, including the Yellow Submarine and Blue Peter red dragon slide.
Liverpool’s Festival Gardens was once part of the International Garden Festival celebrations launched by Queen Elizabeth II in 1984.
Although the Festival Gardens are home to a beautiful park, the site of the actual festival was left in a terrible state.
It has since been derelict for over thirty-years and Liverpool Council have been working to transform the site from landfill to 1,500 brand new homes.
Much work on the site has been completed however, the city council have recently launched a fresh hunt for a developer after their agreement with Ion Developments expired.
It’s expected that the search for a new partner will continue into 2023.
We’ve created a gallery of the Festival Gardens in the 1980s, to bring back nostalgia whilst we wait for work to start once more.
1. Liverpool International Garden Festival, 1984
Image: John Firth/Wikimedia
2. A man on stilts at the Liverpool International Garden Festival, 1984
Image: Gerald England/Wikimedia
3. The Liverpool Falls at the Liverpool Garden Festival, 1984
Image: Chris Denny/Wikimedia
4. Visitors enjoy the Liverpool International Garden Festival, 1984
Image: John Firth/Wikimedia