CINDERFORD will mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day with a day of remembrance and community celebration on Thursday, May 8.

Organised by Cinderford Town Council, the Royal British Legion Cinderford Branch, and local churches, the commemorations will begin at 11AM with a flag-raising ceremony and town crier’s proclamation at the flagpole on Belle Vue Road, next to St Annal’s House.

The theme for the day is ‘Together We Stand’ acting as a powerful message of unity, resilience, and shared remembrance.

Light refreshments will be served at the Golden Lion following the proclamation.

Later in the morning, a wreath-laying ceremony will be held at the town’s war memorial. Led by representatives from the Royal British Legion and Reverend Barnsley, the ceremony will offer a solemn moment of reflection for those who gave their lives in the conflict

The celebrations will conclude at the Clock Tower on the Triangle with a beacon lighting ceremony at 9.30PM. Residents are encouraged to arrive from 8.30PM to enjoy music and food ahead of the lighting.

In a further show of national unity, organisers are encouraging communities across the country to sing the beloved hymn ‘I Vow To Thee My Country’ at 9.30PM—right as the beacons are lit.

This will coincide with the lighting of more than one thousand beacons and hundreds of Lamp Lights of Peace across the UK.

Cinderford’s beacon will be one of more than a thousand lit across the UK that evening, as part of a coordinated national tribute marking eight decades since the end of the war in Europe.

The organisers say the event is an opportunity for the town to come together to honour the sacrifices of the Second World War generation and reflect on the peace that followed.