Belfast to mark 80th anniversary of VE Day with special events

Organised by Belfast City Council, tickets for the free events are available from the Visit Belfast website – visitbelfast.com – or by calling 028 9024 6609.

On Wednesday, May 7, at 7.30pm, Tim McGarry and Dr David Hume from BBC NI’s The Long and Short of It will look back at the city’s wartime experiences at a special evening in City Hall, featuring music and readings from the NI War Memorial’s Oral History Archive. The event will finish in the grounds next to a replica Supermarine Spitfire, used extensively by the Allied Forces during World War II.

Guests will enjoy a brass band performance, alongside a relay of Winston Churchill and King George VI’s historic speeches from May 8, 1945, announcing the end of the war in Europe. The Spitfire will also be open for members of the public to view and take photos from 10am to 5pm the following day, Thursday, May 8 (no ticket required). Also on Thursday, historian Jason Burke will lead free guided walking tours of Belfast city centre at 10am and 2pm, taking in key locations in Belfast’s wartime story. The NI War Memorial are also running tours at 11am and 2pm, focusing on the Cathedral Quarter and exploring the impact of the Belfast Blitz.

A tea dance, hosted by Hugo Duncan, will take place from 1pm to 3pm in City Hall, and will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster. The building will be illuminated in red on both Wednesday and Thursday, May 7-8. “When VE Day was declared on 8 May 1945, City Hall was lit up in celebration, with crowds gathering in the grounds and a giant street party held in Donegall Square North,” said Belfast Lord Mayor Micky Murray. “Eighty years on, the building will once again be a focal point to remember Belfast’s wartime experiences, pay tribute to those veterans who contributed to bringing about peace and look back at how the war shaped our city as it is today. “The feeling that day was one of jubilation, and our events will provide a chance to experience what it must have been like to be here on 8 May 1945, through music, song and recollection.” The council is also distributing £75,000 of grants to community groups to support local events organised to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. The funding will support street parties, community get-togethers and fun days across the city from Thursday to Sunday, May 8-11. For more on the council’s VE Day programme, visit belfastcity.gov.uk/events