Bar Topolski

The Telecinema was a small cinema built especially for the Festival of Britain's London South Bank Exhibition in the summer of 1951. It was situated between Waterloo station and the Royal Festival Hall. The Telecinema was one of the most popular attractions of the Festival, with 458,693 visitors. Many people had to be turned away. When the Festival of Britain ended, the press and public called for its retention, and, following discussion with the London County Council and the film industry, "the building was formally handed over to the BFI for use as a members-only repertory cinema club. It was re-equipped with 400 seats, projection facilities for both 16mm and 35mm, and re-opened in October 1952 as the National Film Theatre. It remained until 1957 when the NFT relocated to a cinema under Waterloo Bridge.

The Waterloo Air Terminal was a passenger reception, check-in facility and heliport on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It was used by British European Airways (BEA) and other European airlines between 1953 and 1957, when it was replaced by the West London Air Terminal. Passengers checked in, were issued with a boarding card, and were transported to either London Airport or Northolt Airport using a fleet of coaches.

The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal Festival Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall/Purcell Room) and also the National Theatre and BFI Southbank repertory cinema. Following a rebranding of the South Bank Centre to Southbank Centre in early 2007, the Hayward Gallery was known as the Hayward until early 2011.

The National Poetry Library is a free public collection housed at Royal Festival Hall in London's Southbank Centre. Situated on the fifth floor of the Royal Festival Hall, overlooking the river Thames, the library aims to hold all contemporary UK poetry publications since 1912. It houses the largest collection in Britain, numbering over 200,000 items, including works by small presses. It also holds audio and video materials, critical texts and works for children for loan and reference. The library contains work by non-UK poets and publishers and press cuttings are also archived for members' research. Membership is free and material is borrowed through the national inter-lending library services or returned by post. The library provides support for schools nationally and locally. The venue has an exhibition and event space.

Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Saison Poetry Library, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room), together with the Hayward Gallery, and is Europe’s largest centre for the arts. It attracted 4.36 million visitors during 2019. Over two thousand paid performances of music, dance and literature are staged at Southbank Centre each year, as well as over two thousand free events and an education programme, in and around the performing arts venues. In addition, three to six major art exhibitions are presented at the Hayward Gallery yearly, and national touring exhibitions reach over 100 venues across the UK.

The Hoffnung Music Festivals were a series of three humorous classical music festivals held in Royal Festival Hall, London in 1956, 1958 and 1961 (and a reprise in 1988). They were created by cartoonist and amateur tuba player Gerard Hoffnung. They included works such as Haydn's Surprise Symphony 'with extra surprises' added by Donald Swann, an 'excerpt from Belshazzar's Feast', with full orchestra and chorus conducted by William Walton himself (with a fly swat), which turned out to consist of just a single chord with the word "Slain!", and humorous works specially commissioned from well-known composers of the day.

The Eurovision Song Contest 1960 was the fifth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in London, United Kingdom. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who agreed to stage the event after the Netherlands, who had won the 1959 contest, declined to host another contest so soon, having also hosted the 1958 edition. The contest was held at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday 29 March 1960 and was hosted by British television presenter Catherine Boyle, who would go on to be the host for the contest 3 more times. It was also the first time the contest was held in a capital city, as well as the first one held in the English-speaking world. Thirteen countries participated in the contest this year, the highest number until then. Norway made their début, and Luxembourg returned after their absence from the previous edition. The winner of the contest was France with the song "Tom Pillibi", performed by Jacqueline Boyer, written by Pierre Cour, and composed by André Popp. This was already France's second victory in the contest, following their win in 1958, and their fourth consecutive top three placing. Aged 18, Boyer became the first teenager and the youngest artist yet to win the contest. Following the death of Lys Assia in 2018, Jacqueline Boyer stands as the earliest surviving Eurovision winner, although later winning singers are older in terms of age.

The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I listed building, the first post-war building to become so protected (in 1981). The London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment are resident in the hall.The hall was built as part of the Festival of Britain for London County Council, and was officially opened on 3 May 1951. When the LCC's successor, the Greater London Council, was abolished in 1986, the Festival Hall was taken over by the Arts Council, and managed together with the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room (opened 1967) and the Hayward Gallery (1968), eventually becoming an independent arts organisation, now known as the Southbank Centre, in April 1998.The complex includes several reception rooms, bars and restaurants, and the Clore Ballroom, accommodating up to 440 for a seated dinner. A large head and shoulders bust of Nelson Mandela (by Ian Walters, created in 1985) stands on the walkway between the hall and Hungerford Bridge approach viaduct. Originally made in glass-fibre it was repeatedly vandalised until re-cast in bronze.The complex's variety of open spaces and foyers are popular for social or work-related meetings. The closest tube stations are Waterloo and, across the river via the Jubilee Bridges, Embankment and Charing Cross.

The Shell Centre, in London, is the global headquarters of oil major Shell plc. It is located on Belvedere Road in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a prominent feature on the South Bank of the River Thames near County Hall, and now forms the backdrop to the London Eye. The original Shell Centre comprised the tower building and three now demolished adjoining nine storey wings (collectively formerly known as the "Upstream Building"). The original development also included a separate building known as the "Downstream Building", which was separated from the Upstream Building by the railway viaduct between Charing Cross and Waterloo East. The Downstream Building was disposed of by Shell in the 1990s, and is now a block of residential apartments known as the White House, and has been heightened by a storey.

The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats. The Purcell Room has hosted a wide range of chamber music, jazz, mime and poetry recitals. In the context of the Southbank Centre it is the smallest of a set of three venues, the other two being the Royal Festival Hall, a large symphony hall, and the QEH, which is used for orchestral, chamber and contemporary amplified music. The Purcell Room was built at the same time as the QEH, with which it shared a common foyer building and architectural features as an example of Brutalist architecture. The focus of the building is its interior space and it makes few concessions to external decoration. From outside, even its position within Southbank Centre is not easy to discern. The QEH and Purcell Room were designed, with The Hayward, as additions to the Southbank Centre arts complex by Hubert Bennett, head of the architects department of the Greater London Council, with Jack Whittle, F.G West and Geoffrey Horsefall. The venue was temporarily closed in September 2015, for major renovations, and re-opened in 2018.

Cuper's Gardens were 17–18th century pleasure gardens (or tea gardens) on the south side of the River Thames in Lambeth, London. The gardens looked over to Somerset House near Waterloo Bridge, and were centered on what is now the north end of Waterloo Road. In 1643, Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel bought three acres of land which he leased to his gardener Abraham Boydell Cuper. The gardens opened in the 1680s and were named after the original proprietor. They were also known as Cupid's Gardens. In 1686, seven acres of adjoining land was bought from the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Sancroft, and added to the gardens. A long landing stage in the river known as Cuper's Bridge acted as a popular entrance for the gardens.In 1736, an orchestra was included among the attractions. It also became known for its firework displays. However, it lost its license in 1753 due to the loose morals of its visitors. It remained open as an unlicensed tea garden before finally closing in 1760.

The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten.The QEH was built along with the smaller Purcell Room as part of Southbank Centre arts complex. It stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival of Britain of 1951, and the Hayward Gallery which opened in 1968.