FESTIVAL OF EMPIRE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 79, 23 May 1911, Page 5

FESTIVAL OF EMPIRE.

SPIN TACLE {>v If AGXi EM ENUE. / ; * SU&'fc ,(')K TilK Al\3A.\i;Krfi-ATS. A COS ILY T’XDEI? !•. i XG. The Festival of Empire .-mil t!• ~ .'.ll- - Exhibition of'Arts ami inc.ustrms. and the Pageant of Lombui at Ui >, Crystal Palace in an •vo :t or world-wick l interest. Over :.50 acres of grauiul are occupied, and on ihcse are over MOO buildings. As m.i,,v as O’*• D men were employed on i.he inige task of construction and the hundredand one tilings necessary to complete tlio arrangements, and •'£300,000 war, spent. Various pavilions are occupied by the products of tine oversea dominions. There is the “All-Red” ironce, which enables one., to review the Empire in being—the “£60,000 roalisation of Empire”—and tire mile and. a half of eiecln’c line running round the grounds') \t huli is in itself an engineering triumph. Every available artist, was engaged upon i he p ( eparation of throe miles ot scene] y which borders the “All-lie 1” route. In addition to the myriad gas and electric lamps on the laidbigs and in various parts of, the groom,s Uu> rows of lights for illumiti 11 :m>- the “All-Rod” •route total to To m;h .<?, with 75,000 lamps, each of 16 eata.lcpowor, and 200 arc lamps. The oaths and roads at the Lsrval have till been constructed on the most scientific principles, the palace which is of glass, is adorned ; with gold and crimson. Over £IOOO was expanded upon a picture palace, in which only enu matograph views of tlie Empire will he shown; gardens of surpassing beauty were laid out; an ancient Ron an temple at Bath was reconstructed in stone at a, cost of £700; a wo ,, tdng model is to show Itow H..M.S; Thunderer was constructed; the ImiMing of that floating palace, the Olynjac, is illustrated; nearly two mMon pounds worth of diamonds are Mu vn in the All-British Exhibition; <’oo.ooo are devoted to the spectacular tour of our fivo-continont Empire; and Canada is putting up a £70,000 reproduction of the Parliament Houses of witawa.

A gigantic carnival is to !)c be.'d on July 0. There , will be fully 30 Inigo carnival ' cars, and each of rho o\ erseas Dominions will bo roprosoavcd by such a car. Each car will ho drawn i/v six horses, and hundreds of n ounted masqueraders, together with 12 bands, will figure in this remarkable procession. The carnival-makers will assemble in Hyde Park, and parade through South London to the Crystal Palace. In the Bijou Theatre people can enjoy flic wordless costume plays which are to ho one of the chief attractions of the Imperial Fair of Fashions. The scenery is very elaborate. The entertainment consists of a series of beautiful set scenes. One will represent Ascot, another the foyer of a fashionable restaurant, another the garden of a charming old country house, and so on. Amidst those surroundings beautiful girls walk and 'pose with the object of showing to perfect advantage the richest and costliest creations of a number of famous English dressmakers. It was necessary to examine over 600 applicants 'before finding 31) perfect enough in typo and figure to satisfy the exacting demands of the dressmakers. 1

The Festival of Empire concerts nave boijn organised on an olahqiiM&g scale by Dr. Charles Harriss, wftoT.nm' 1addition to arranging thq-t'our of the Sheffield Choir, has devoted it .’great, deal of his time to the prc'paraiign,- of, these programmes, and was himselfprinc ipal conductor at the lust <;oh~-. cert, which opened the festival gat the Crystal Palace on Friday. ffhe, newly-formed Imperial Clioir of 4500 g voice's, mentioned in the cable mes--sago, was drawn from 40 London choirs, while the band music was on- I trusted to the famous Qneeu’s-liall Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry J. Wood.- Madame Clara Butt was to sing Elgar s “Land of Hope and dory” and Hatton’s “The Enchantress.” The choral work was to clude a patriotic chorus,- “For Empire and the King” (I’lctchor), winch was awarded the first prize of £SO in Dr. Harriss’s Empire chorus competition; there will Do an “Imperial Crocting,” composed by. Dr .Haniss, and Sit? A. C. Mackenzie will-conduct Ids “Britannia” overture. The dates of the succeeding concerts will ho;— Canadian May 30; English, Juno G; Australian, June 13; Scottish, June 20; South African, June 27 ; Irish, July 4 : Welsh, July 11 ; Kcw Zealand, July 18. At the Australian concert the artists will he Miss Esta D Argo, Mr Peter Dawson, and Mr Percy Grainger.