When it opened its doors in 1951 it was intended as a tonic for a nation battered and bruised after years of war and economic instability. Now, 75 years after London’s Royal Festival Hall became the jewel in the crown of the Festival of Britain, the venue is celebrating its star studded past while building a future as a beacon of hope. Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, which has the Hall at its centre, says: “The festival in 1951 was an invention of the post war government -