On Sunday 14 November the city will fall silent when the annual Service of Remembrance takes place in Liverpool Cathedral.
Around 1,200 military personnel, veterans and families of the fallen from recent conflicts, plus civic dignitaries from across the Liverpool City Region will gather inside the cathedral for the service and big screens will be set up in the cathedral grounds so members of the public can gather and be part of the commemorations.
The service will start at 10.40am with a two-minute silence taking place at 11am, followed by a poignant poppy drop outside the venue. During the service, there will be readings, prayers and music contributions by The Band of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.
Former Lance Corporal Craig Lundberg, who was blinded during a tour in Iraq, will take part in the event. He will give a moving, personal account of his experience on the theme of ‘sacrifice’.
The commemoration will conclude with a march past from the cathedral and along Upper Duke Street.
A number of independently organised marches will also take place after the event, including what is thought to be one of the longest military parades in the country which will see personnel march from the Cathedral, along Rodney Street, Clarence Street, Seymour Street, London Road, dispersing near the Cenotaph outside St George’s Hall.
The service will be streamed live via www.liverpool.gov.uk/remembrancesunday.
Members of the public are invited to lay their wreaths on Sunday, 14 November between 9am and 5pm, and the Hall of Remembrance in Liverpool Town Hall is open to the public on Sunday 14 November from 10am to 4pm. An art installation of black poppies, created by Liverpool-based artist Faith Bebbington, will be located at the Town Hall in memory of the Black service personnel who supported the war effort.
Wreaths will also be laid at 9am on Armistice Day (Thursday 11 November) by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Mary Rasmussen, and Deputy Mayor of Liverpool Councillor Jane Corbett. They will join other key representatives at the Cenotaph on St George’s Hall plateau.
To mark both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, a number of buildings will be lit up red. These include Cunard Building, St George’s Hall, Liverpool Town Hall and Sefton Park Palm House (full list below).
The city’s digital Roll of Honour is available once again and gives people the chance to share memories and photographs of loved ones on the Culture Liverpool website.
Service timeline – not for publication:
10.40am – Service begins
10.59am – The Last Post
11am – Firing of the gun starts the two minute silence
11.02am – Poppy drop externally – please note this element is weather dependent
Approx 11.10am – Craig Lundberg speaks
11.25am – Service finishes
11.40am – March past begins at Cathedral
The buildings lighting up red are:
Sefton Park Palm House, George’s Dock Building, Liverpool Town Hall, Cunard Building, St George’s Hall, Port of Liverpool building, Radio City Tower, Martin Luther King Building, Liverpool University – both engineering and their new Yoko Ono Lennon Centre, M&S Bank Arena, the façade of Moorfields station, The Atkinson (Southport), Steve Prescott Bridge – St Helens, World Museum (Sunday only) and Royal Liver Building (Sunday only).
Poppy projections will be displayed on St George’s Hall (the St John’s Gardens side) on the evening of Sunday 14 November.
