Events around the region set to mark return of Remembrance Day
BRISTOL and surrounding towns will come to a standstill once more this weekend as millions across the world mark their respect at numerous events to remember those who fought and died for us.
Armistice Day, often known as Poppy Day, is observed across the Commonwealth on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month every year since the signing of the Armistice, bringing the First World War to an end.
Last year, many Remembrance Day events were cancelled and scaled down due to Covid restrictions, including the public event at the Cenotaph on the city centre – the first time it had been called off since 1920.
This year’s Remembrance Day will be on Sunday, November 14, and there will be services and parades in and around Bristol, with the city falling silent at 11am.
These are where and when you can attend events and what is taking place.
Thursday, November 11 Memorial Stadium, Filton Avenue
The annual Remembrance service at the gates of the Bristol Rovers ground will take place on Thursday at 10.45am. A few words of remembrance will be spoken in memory of those who lost their lives during World War One, World War Two and other conflicts.
Saturday, November 13 Stoke Gifford
Filton Concert Brass will host a Festival of Remembrance concert at St Michael’s Centre, North Road, Stoke Gifford, between 7pm and 10pm.
It will feature the Bristol Military Wives Choir and Royal British Legion to remember those who have fallen.
The band will also perform wartime music and the concert will feature the Last Post ceremony with a Royal British Legion standard bearer.
In the interval, there will be refreshments available for a donation, and opportunities to donate to the Royal British Legion and buy Filton Concert Brass CDs Tales of the West Country and Christmas with Filton Concert Brass. Donations to the band are also gratefully received.
For tickets, call 07757 744116. Tickets will also be available to purchase on the door.
Sunday, November 14 Cenotaph, Bristol City Centre
Members of the public are welcome to observe the parade and attend the service which includes two minutes silence from 11am to 11.02am, followed by the laying of wreathes and short service.
The annual parade will be led by 39 Signal Regiment based at the Army Reserve Centre in Horfield.
Military units, cadet contingents, veterans and related groups will assemble on College Green, ready to march down to the Cenotaph on Colston Avenue for approximately 10.30am.
They will be followed by a mounted police escort and dignitaries from Bristol who collectively make up the Civic Procession.
The military parade, other contingents and the civic procession will return to College Green at the end of the service.
A number of city centre roads will be closed for the event, between 5am and 1pm. Diversions and a towaway scheme will be in operation during this time.
Safety measures will be in place to protect both participants and observers. This includes additional barriers to the parade route and around the College Green area.
Bristol Cathedral
At 6pm on Sunday, the Cathedral Choir will sing Faure’s Requiem in a Eucharist for Remembrance. All are welcome to attend this service of remembrance. Free entry, no tickets required.
Kingswood
The Kingswood community Remembrance Day service takes place at Kingswood Parks Primary School on Sunday. Gates open at 10.30am and the service will run from 10.50am – 11.15am.
For those unable to make it, the service will also be live-streamed online via the Kingswood Church of England Facebook page.
There will be a parade through
Moravian Road, Cecil Road and Regent Street between 2.15pm and 2.45pm.
There will be no diversions in place and bus services will operate normal routes with minimal delays as the parade passes.
Staple Hill
This year sees the return of Staple Hill’s very own Festival of Remembrance.
At 10am, there will be a parade led by The Staple Hill Citadel Band through the High Street to Page Park and after a short service parade back to High Street between 10.30am and 11.45am.
There will be no diversions in place and services will operate normal routes with minimal delays as the parade passes.
At 5pm, the band will be joined by the Songsters (senior choir) from The Salvation Army at Staple Hill Salvation Army in Broad Street.
Admission is free but it is a ticketonly event.
Thornbury
This year’s Remembrance Day parade has been cancelled but there is a remembrance service at St Mary’s church at 10.30am and it will also be streamed live online.
Chipping Sodbury
The Remembrance Day parade starts at 2.45pm in Broad Street and moves from Rounceval Street to the War Memorial and is followed by a Civic Service at 3pm.
Yate
A service of remembrance starts at 10am at St Mary’s Church, Yate, but the parade begins at Poole Court at 9.05am.
Clevedon
The Clevedon Pier Remembrance Day Service takes place on the pier from 10am to 11.30am. Entrance is free but the event is ticketed. Book via the Clevedon Pier website.
Portishead
Portishead town Remembrance Service is held at St Peter’s Church, which is the home of the town’s war memorial. The service is held at 10.50am and includes the national two minutes silence.
The service follows on from the Remembrance Parade through the High Street. The march off is led by the Town Band at 10.20am with the salute being taken at the Folk Hall on the High Street.
Numbers at the church will be restricted to a maximum of five from any contingency plus invited guests.
In addition, an interdenominational service of Remembrance will be held on the Waitrose Piazza on November 11 with the two minutes silence, beginning at 10.50am. All welcome.
Nailsea
Nailsea will be marking Remembrance 2021 with services, wreathlaying and poppies.
The Nailsea and Backwell RFC community based at the West End ground is inviting all to join veterans and serving members for the Act of Remembrance gathering from 10.45am on Sunday, November 14.
Also in Nailsea, at Holy Trinity church on Sunday, November 14 at 10.30am, the Act of Remembrance will start outside by the war memorial with the laying of wreaths and the roll call before going into the church for the Remembrance Sunday service.
There is limited seating so you will need to book.
Weston-super-Mare
Remembering people from Weston-super-Mare who fell in the Great War, the service at the War Memorial in Grove Park will start at 10.45am.