Public urged to commemorate VE Day 80th anniversary with street parties
Victory in Europe Day is celebrated on May 8 each year to mark when the Allies formally accepted Germany’s surrender in 1945.
People are being urged to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE day with street parties – as four days of concerts, services and processions were announced.
Victory in Europe Day, known as VE Day, is celebrated on May 8 each year to mark the day the Allies formally accepted Germany’s surrender in 1945.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said this year’s anniversary offers “important opportunities for communities to come together”, starting with a military procession from Whitehall to Buckingham Palace on the May 5 bank holiday.
This year’s events offer “a great opportunity to celebrate what we have in common, and to use the celebrations to reach out to neighbours, friends and our wider communities”, said Brendan Cox, co-founder of the Together Coalition, which is organising the VEDay80 community campaign.
Bank holiday street parties and barbecues will be organised by the coalition, and the first day of events includes a street party on the surviving warship HMS Belfast.
Bruno Peek, pageant master of the commemoration, said: “We encourage everyone to take part – raise the VE Day flag at 9am, gather in streets, gardens, town halls, clubs and pubs. Let this be a day of joy, reflection, and celebration.”
Landmarks will be lit up to mark the occasion, and the Cenotaph will be draped in Union flags for the first time since it was unveiled by King George IV in 1920.
An installation of 30,000 ceramic poppies will be displayed in the Tower of London, which was bombed during the Blitz.
Commemorating the newsflash announcement on the evening of May 7 1945 that the following day would be VE Day, the Parliament Choir will host an anniversary concert in Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster.
On VE Day itself, a service will take place at Westminster Abbey and more than 10,000 members of the public will attend a concert at Horseguards Parade.
The end of the war in the Far East will be commemorated on August 15 with a service at the National Memorial Arboretum by the Royal British Legion, the nation’s largest military charity, in partnership with the Government.
Both August 15, a week after the US bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and September 2, when Japan signed a document to officially surrender, are known as VJ Day or Victory in Japan Day.
Ms Nandy said these commemorations will be an opportunity to “hear our veterans’ stories first hand, to reflect and remember, and ensure that their stories of sacrifice and service are remembered for generations to come”.
