NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND 1929
North-East Coast Exhibition of
Industry, Science, and Art

Quick List Info

Dates Open - May 14 to October 26, 1929. Open 143 days. Not open Sundays.

Attendance - 4,372,138.

International Participants - 12 nations, dominions, and colonies listed with additional exhibits from other areas probable.

Total Cost - L281,466.

Site Acreage - More than 100 acres of the 1,200 acre Town Moor.

Sanction and Type - Prior to sanctioning by the Bureau of International Exhibitions. Would be considered a Special category Recognized event today like those on the 2-3 or 7-8 years of the decade.

Ticket Cost - Unknown.

Photo top center: Postcard view of the lake and Palace of Art, North-East Coast Exhibition, 1929. Courtesy Newcastle Libraries. Column Top: Poster from the Newcastle Exhibition, 1929, Original Source unknown, perhaps the Expo Authority. Courtesy Pinterest. Column Bottom: Main Avenue of the Exhibition 1929, 1929. Courtesy Newcastle Libraries.

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• For more info about the World's Fair Decision Model, development of the model, the study participants, etc. The development is currently being utilized for in-house publishing projects, but is not available for work-for-hire decuments or consulting.


• For More info about the Bureau of International Exhibitions - Sanctioning body for international exposition (world's fairs) headquartered in Paris, France.


• For more info about previous EXPOcheck reports.

History of the Event

Was it a world's fair, colonial exhibition, national exhibition, or a hybrid of all? Probably the later added to an industrial exposition meant to stem the tide of the growing depression. No matter the lexicon, the public loved it, over four million of them. Outside of Newcastle and the North-East Coast, there's little reminder that the event existed. History has forgotten most of it. The exception is in Newcastle, where the legacy of the site has been turned into Exhibition Park, and the remaining building, the Palace of Art, refurbished into other uses.

Idea for the exhibition came from the leading industrialists of the North-East coast; they were going to demonstrate the industries from Tweed to Tees, according to the London Times, and try to forestall the economic crises. They would use more than one hundred acres of the Town Moor, begin construction on the bulidings in 1928, and have exhibit buildings, a stadium for twenty thousand, and an amusement park. There had been a smaller exhibition in Newcastle back in the Jubilee year of 1887, which had also done well with two million people attending, but was a smaller affair to the one being planned. This one would be essentially British in character, but could claim world exhibition status due to its exhibits from Great Britain and the Dominions. There would be a Palace of Industry, 170,000 square feet large, a Palace of Art, Women's Building, a Palace of Engineering, Gardens Club, Festival Hall, Empire Marketing Board Pavilion, Gateshead Municipal Pavilion, and more.

The exhibition had Board of Trade and Prime Minister approval, as well as that of the Prince of Wales (aka future Edward VIII), who opened the North-East Coast Exhibition on May 14 with 50,000 in attendance. He toured the fair after the opening. It is said to have compared to the Wembley fair of 1924-5, almost a sequel to that event.

Above photo. Bird-eye view of the North-East Exhibition held in Newcastle, 1929. Courtesy Newcastle Libraries. Middle: Poster from the Exhibition, 1929. Courtesy Pinterest. Bottom: Interior of the Exhibit Halls in the Palace of Engineering, 1929. Courtesy Newcastle Libraries.


So how did the exhibition do? They outdrew their estimate paying attendance by thirty percent, drawing over 4.3 million. There was a profit, albeit small, of around L3,000. The public was engaged, perhaps in part due to the depression era mindset that made an exhibition fun against the dire prospects of real economic life. It was said to have inspired courage in the public of the area during difficult times. There was praise for the layout, but the London Times thought the posters were drab.

Empire Exhibition

International Participants
Nations and Colonies

United Kingdom, New Zealand, Irish Free State, South Africa, India, Canada, Australia. Colonies included the Gold Coast, Southern Rhodesia, Cyprus, East Africa, and Malaya.

Note: It is sometimes difficult to tell whether certain nations or colonies actually participated in a significant way, especially in joint pavilions. Newspaper reports as well as the official guidebook may indicate participation when actual participation did not occur, or occurred minimally. Take the above as a guide, not gospel.

Expo Tidbits
Closing Day attendance was 119,000.

Cost of construction was L114,000, around L5,000,000 today.

Gold watches were given to each one millionth visitor.

Legacies
The site of the exhibition is now known as Exhibition Park with the only remaining building, The Palace of Art. The Palace of Art has been refurbished by Wylam Brewery as a brew pub and event location. It was reopened to the public as of 2016. Prior to the brewery use, the Palace of Art had been the Science Museum (1934-1983) and a Military Vehicle Museum (1983-2006).

Those in Charge

Chairman of exhibition committee was Mayor Arthur W. Lambert. Architects were W & TR Milburn of Sunderland. Construction company was Henry Kelly Limited.

Sources: Newcastle Libraries; Wylam Brewery; London Times; Historical Dictionary of World's Fairs; Wikipedia Commons; Flickr.

Photo column top: Postcard of the Palace of Engineering, 1929. Courtesy Newcastle Libraries. Bottom: Gate to Exhibition Park, 2007. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons.