Golden Jubilee Photos: A tradition of anniversary celebrations

CERN organised celebrations for its tenth, twenty-fifth, thirtieth and fortieth anniversaries. Over the years, as its educational and outreach activities expanded, the festivities placed more and more emphasis on the general public, who were invited to come and see science in the making. The tenth-anniversary celebrations were confined to an official ceremony in the presence of representatives of the thirteen Member States and to a party for the personnel. Those marking the Organization's twenty-fifth anniversary were more grand and included, in addition to the official ceremony, an exhibition of CERN technology, a concert by the Suisse Romande Orchestra at the Victoria Hall in Geneva, an exhibition at the Balexert shopping centre, an open day for the local population and a special day for the staff consisting of talks, competitions and numerous other attractions. In particular, a competition was held to find the most unusual anecdotes about life at the Laboratory. A photographic record of the Organization's first twenty-five years, with which many people at CERN are familiar, was also published. King Juan Carlos I of Spain was the most important guest at the official thirtieth-anniversary ceremony on 21st September 1984, marking Spain's return as a CERN Member State the previous year. The Suisse Romande Orchestra gave a concert in Geneva's Victoria Hall on this occasion too and an open day was organised for the general public. The greatest thirtieth-anniversary gift of all, however, was the first Nobel Prize awarded for research conducted at CERN, which went to Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer a few weeks later. The fortieth anniversary celebrations, which consisted of an open day for the personnel, were certainly the least formal of all. For a day, the CERN site was transformed into a huge fête with entertainment put on for all the family.