Blackpool Armed Forces Week Set To Be Biggest Ever
2 May 2014
by Visit Blackpool
Blackpool’s Armed Forces Week celebrations will be bigger than ever before with the official Armed Forces Day event moving to the resort’s 256 acre Stanley Park.
Armed Forces Day has now become a firm date on the calendar for towns and cities up and down the country but in Blackpool both veterans and serving military personnel are celebrated for a whole week with a wide range of activities targeted at them and their families as well as the many thousands of people visiting the resort.
Until now Armed Forces Day celebrations have taken place in St John’s in the town centre but event organiser VisitBlackpool is hoping that by moving to Stanley Park, where there will be a full day of FREE activities, more people than ever before will be able to join in the celebrations.
This year Armed Forces Week is running from Monday June 23 to Sunday June 29 with Armed Forces Day taking place on Saturday 28.
Cllr Chris Ryan, Blackpool Council’s Armed Forces Champion, said: “Armed Forces Week is always an incredibly important fixture on the Blackpool events’ calendar and we look forward to it every year as it is the town’s chance to say thank you to past and serving military personnel.
“We are planning that the 2014 celebrations will be bigger and better than ever before, particularly because it is such an important year in our history as we commemorate 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War and remember so many of our ancestors who lost their lives.
“We feel that due to this anniversary and the fact that Armed Forces Week has grown in popularity over the years it is the right time to move our Armed Forced Day celebrations to Stanley Park where we can have so many more activities that will appeal to a large audience.”
Highlights on Armed Forced Day include live entertainment all day, war and modern-day training re-enactments, sports competitions, military vehicle displays, a World War Heritage Exhibition, archery, assault course and climbing walls.
Armed Forces Week begins with the raising of the Armed Forces Day Flag at Blackpool Town Hall on Monday 23. This is followed by a week of activities including the free Music for Heroes concert in the Blackpool Winter Gardens, a Service of Dedication at Fylde Memorial Arboretum and an Armed Forces’ Gala Night Dinner.
The week comes to end on Sunday June 29 when Blackpool joins together to celebrate, honour and unite Britain’s Armed Forces past and present in a service at the cenotaph, followed by a parade along the promenade.
Cllr Graham Cain, Blackpool Council Cabinet Member for Tourism and Leisure, added: “It is an absolute joy to be able to celebrate our Armed Forces personnel so comprehensively in Blackpool. And to be able to say thank you to the brave men and women who have fought and continue to fight for our country.”
For more information about Blackpool Armed Forces Week and Armed Forces Day go to www.armedforcesweek.co.uk
Follow Blackpool Forces Week at www.facebook.com/blackpoolarmedforces or @BPLArmedForces