Guernsey’s Liberation Day celebrations will be held across the island this year, with organisers calling on neighbourhood communities to celebrate together.
While the island is now restriction-free internally, organisers have worked closely with colleagues in Public Health and have taken the decision to limit activities in Town for the year’s Liberation Day. This was considered a sensible and pragmatic approach, as up to 10,000 islanders often attend the seafront on Liberation Day.
However, a wide variety of exciting plans are being developed including for the first-time ever an around-island cavalcade. This will mean the thousands of people who normally enjoy this spectacle will be able to do so again, but from a location near to their home.
The morning of Liberation Day will focus on commemoration with the Town Church Liberation Day service being live streamed across social media channels, the unveiling of the Liberation monument and laying of the wreath will be shown in digital format.
The afternoon is all about celebration and in a further sign of Guernsey Together, which has been so evident throughout the pandemic, organisers are urging neighbours, friends and families to watch the cavalcade and then hold their own parties within their community.
The social media campaign, Decorate to Liberate, which was so successful last year and encouraged people to put up bunting and other decorations on their homes to show their Guernsey Pride, will run again.
Deputy Sue Aldwell, Member of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture who also sits on the Liberation Day Organising Committee, told Channel Eye: “It is fantastic that as an island we are in a better place to celebrate Liberation Day this year than we were in 2020, when people will recall we had to largely all mark the day from our own homes. But we need to be a little cautious and having discussed this at length with Public Health – and I’d like to thank them for the advice and guidance they gave us – we have taken what we believe is a sensible approach to celebrating what is such a special day for all of us.
“Plans for those celebrations are full steam ahead but they will look and feel a bit different. We want everyone to get out and enjoy the freedom we have, but we just didn’t think it was sensible to have up to 10,000 people crammed together in Town at the moment. We felt Liberation Day this year just came a little bit too soon after
lockdown, and were concerned about having such large numbers of people in close proximity even if the island remains Covid-free at that point as we all hope it will be.
“So our plea today is for everyone to get their thinking hats on, discuss with their friends, families and neighbours, and come up with great ideas for their own celebrations closer to home. We really hope that there will end up being lots of these scattered across the island, which while limiting the number of people at any
one location means the many people who normally enjoy Liberation Day will still be able to do so.
“We’re very excited for our plans for an around-island cavalcade and are working hard to make that happen.”
More detail about the plans to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the island’s Liberation can be found here.
