Leicester people marked the end of the Second World War with a conga round the Clock Tower – and now plans are taking shape to commemorate the 80th anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day in style.

Vintage music, bunting and bell-ringing will mark both anniversaries, which take place on Thursday 8 May for VE Day and Friday 15 August for VJ Day. The city council will also support community celebrations by enabling free road closures and providing traffic signs for anyone who wants to close a road for a street party. Town Hall Square will be a focal point on both days, with bunting, flags, floral tributes and a commemorative book available 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.

Leicester Cathedral will mark both anniversaries with commemorative evening services at 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 services.

Leicester's libraries and museums will also be getting involved by showcasing resources, memories and objects relating to the 1940s wartime era and celebrations of peace. In May, Leicester Museum & Art Gallery will feature works by Charles Ginner, an official war artist who specialised in painting harbour scenes and bombed buildings in London. And in August, the hugely popular Popping to the Shops exhibition will feature as its 'object of the month' an extremely rare poster for a VJ concert in November 1945, delayed on purpose so that servicemen returning from the Far East could attend.

The Story of Leicester website has a new webpage for the 80^th anniversaries, and a new digital walking tour will be available soon to showcase Leicester's heritage panels and memorials relating to the Second World War. To find out more about Leicester's plans for VE Day and VJ Day, visit https://www.visitleicester.info/whats-on/ve-day-and-vj-day-in-leicester-p1018771

Image: Leicester Mercury