VINTAGE music, bunting and bell-ringing will mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day in Leicester later this week.
On Thursday 8 May, Town Hall Square will be a focal point for commemorations, with bunting, flags and floral tributes in the square. A commemorative book will be available from 10am until 5pm at the Town Hall, where people can record their personal thanks to the men and women who served in the war. Vera Lynn’s wartime classic ‘We’ll Meet Again’ and other well-known tunes from the 1940s will fill the square - and in the evening, the Town Hall will be lit up to mark the occasion.
Leicester Cathedral will mark the anniversary with a commemorative evening service from 5.30pm, which will be open to the public and attended by the Lord Mayor, the Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire, and other civic dignitaries. Bell-ringing will follow the service.
Leicester’s libraries and museums are also getting involved by showcasing resources, memories and objects relating to the 1940s wartime era and celebrations of peace. The Story of Leicester website has a new webpage for the 80th anniversary, full of pictures, personal memories and voices from the University of Leicester’s oral history archive. There is also a new digital walking tour which showcases Leicester’s heritage panels and memorials relating to the Second World War.
At the Central Library in Bishop Street, the Media Archive for Central England (MACE) is bringing some rare archive footage to the library that captures life in Leicester and Leicestershire during the Second World War. The screening of Leicester on Film: 1939-45 starts at 7pm on Thursday. Admission is free, but places must be reserved in advance by contacting the library.
Assistant city mayor for leisure and culture, Cllr Vi Dempster, said: “The last significant anniversaries for VE Day and VJ Day – 75 years, in 2020 – occurred when the country was in the grip of the covid pandemic. As a result, commemorations had to take place virtually and online.
“That’s why it’s even more special that this year, we are able to commemorate this important milestone by bringing the spirit of VE Day into the city centre.”
Memories of VE Day on the Story of Leicester website can be found at
https://www.storyofleicester.info/city-stories/ve80-victory-in-europe-day-80th-anniversary/
ENDS