A remembrance festival which has raised thousands of pounds for the UK's leading service charity is set to return.
Veterans and service personnel alike will be honoured in a special remembrance event organised by the Royal British Legion.
The festival features live music and dance and will be held at Weymouth Pavilion on Sunday, November 3, at 6.30pm.
All money raised will go towards supporting the Poppy Appeal which provides crucial support for the Armed Forces community, including housing, employment support, and mobility assistance.
This is the seventh festival to be held in Weymouth and is making its long-awaited return after it was cancelled twice - once in 2020 due to the global pandemic and then again in 2022 due to a lack of volunteers.
Ian Jarvis, community fundraiser for RBL Dorset, said: "We’re bringing it back for its seventh year and hope it will be back to stay.”
“The event just shows the beautiful spirit of Weymouth. It’s all local talent who have given their time for free to raise money for the Poppy event."
Mr Jarvis co-organises the festival with Anna-Maria Geare - a member of vintage singing group The Decadettes who will be amongst the acts performing this year.
There will also be performances from Let's Dance, Weymouth School of Ballet, The Dorset Rock Choir, Bovington Miltary Wives Choir and the HMS Heron Marching Band, all of whom have performed at previous Weymouth remembrance festivals.
When questioned on the importance of Weymouth as a location for the fundraising event, Mr Jarvis said the town's wartime history makes it a suitable place for a celebration as big as this.
He added: "The event ties into the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Weymouth has a fantastic history and there have been many localised events to mark the anniversary like the beacon lighting at the Nothe Fort.
READ MORE: Beacon lit at Nothe Fort as Weymouth remembers D-Day
“The people in Weymouth support everything we do. It's a nice localised event and we're excited for it to return."
Weymouth played a crucial part in the invasion of northern France with more than 100,000 men staged in the town.
Many of the troops who embarked through Weymouth were part of the US first division, the ‘Big Red One’, who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. There were also several hospitals in Weymouth which received casualties who were evacuated from Normandy.
Tickets for the festival cost £14 for adults and £7.50 for children. These are available to buy on the Weymouth Pavilion website: https://weymouthpavilion.com/shows/festival-of-remembrance/
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