It’s nearly the most important day in Guernsey’s calendar…Liberation Day, commemorating the islands’ freedom from the German Occupation during World War II and it’s lovely to see that we’re back to having lots of celebrations planned.
For families, it’s a great chance to talk about the significance of the day, and my girls who are 9, are only just understanding about war and what that would have meant for people living in Guernsey at the time.
There is so much going on across the island, so I’ve pulled together details of all the family-friendly events taking place, the hard thing will be choosing what to go too, it all sounds such fun!
Guernsey Schools Relay Race
9am to 9:30am St Peter Port
Liberation Day celebrations are kicking off in St Peter Port with the historic Guernsey Schools Relay Race. This fun event for girls and boys in year 10, from all secondary schools, is great to watch with spectators lining the streets. This sets the atmosphere for the rest of the day.
Liberation Day at Castle Cornet
10am to 4pm FREE entry for all
Castle Cornet has a whole host of activities for families on offer throughout the day. Kicking off with crafts in the Amherst Room, where The Guernsey Arts team will have flags for children to decorate, themed colouring-in sheets and replica Liberation Day newspapers for the children to make collages.
Face painting is always a big hit with kids, and it will be on offer from 10:30am to 3pm on the top lawn. The top lawn will also play host to storytelling from the Guille-Alles library from 11am to 1pm and dance classes run by B Creative from 1:30pm to 2:30pm.
The noon day gun will be taking place as usual at midday from the Royal Battery, but there will also be a 21 gun salute at 3:45pm. I can’t imagine how noisy that will be! For children that are sensitive to loud noises, don’t forget to take ear defenders if you have them.
There will be live music playing throughout the day and The Guernsey Youth Choir will be performing from 3pm. All this along with lawn games, spot-it sheets and much more, I feel exhausted just writing about it! Well done to the museum team for putting on such a celebration and it’s free!
Liberation Day Island Cavalcade
12pm to 4:45pm
We had great fun last year waving our flags as the cavalcade went past, and highly recommend it as a memorable thing for kids. With over 100 vehicles in the cavalcade it takes quite a while to pass, so feels like a real event that we talked about a lot afterwards. Last year they only allowed 2 hours for the whole trip, meaning by the time they got to St Martin’s, they were over an hour later than stated, which wasn’t the best when waiting with kids. However, this year they have obviously learnt from this, as the cavalcade starts at midday at Rue du Pleimont, takes in all 10 parishes, and ends at the Mallard filter at 4:45pm.
If you can’t get out to watch it, it is screened live on the official Liberation Day website liberationday.gg and on their Facebook page. It’s a good tip to look at the live coverage to check the progress before heading out to watch, to ensure you’re not waiting too long.
CLICK HERE to view the cavalcade map with timings
Parish Events
Each parish was given a budget to help fund Liberation celebrations, and most have really embraced this opportunity. Watching the Island Cavalcade is central to each of the parish events as they are all situated along the route, ensuring people can watch the cavalcade whilst enjoying the parish celebrations.
Liberation Day at L'Eree
11am to 9:30pm L’Eree Common and Beach
St Pierre du Bois parish is hosting a cracker of an event lasting over 10 hours, with what sounds like an amazing array of entertainment for families. There will be inflatable fun for the under 5’s, climbing wall for 5’s and over, tug of war, sandcastle competition, beach games, football and there is still more to be announced! All this alongside live music all day from 11:15am, kicking off with the STYX Singing for Health Group, who will be singing traditional 40’s tunes, through to Buffalo Huddleston who will be headlining from 8pm and closing the show.
Styx will be hosting a traditional tea tent and there will be lots of food choices throughout the day, but don’t forget to pack a picnic if you prefer. If all that wasn’t enough, there will be kayaks available to hire for those that want to brave the weather and get out on the water, it’s still too cold for me!
CLICK HERE to visit the event Facebook page.
St Saviour's Liberation Day Party
11:30am to 2:30pm, on the St Saviour’s Revel Field
St Saviour’s is offering a more relaxed family fun afternoon, which is being kindly run by St Saviour’s Church, on behalf of the parish. The focus is around families having a picnic on Revel field, where children can enjoy the freedom of playing on the contained field and everyone can enjoy listening to the live music that will be playing throughout the event.
To entertain the children, there will be a tent full of activities, including a large Liberation-themed collaborative art project, which will be a great keep-sake from the day, Liberation play-dough activities and traditional games including skittles and making paper chains. Don’t forget your picnic rug and hamper, money for homemade cakes and flags to wave during the cavalcade.
St Martin's Liberation Family Fun Day
12pm to 4:30pm, in the field opposite the Parish Hall
St Martin’s have gone for the village fete feel with lots of crowd pleasers, including table-top fairground games, a magician, funfair water roller, mini go karting and the chair o’ plane fairground ride (my girls’ favourite ride and I’m surprised that they can still fit in the chairs!).
Add in the hog roast, ice cream, Senners Guernsey Gache and a beer tent, there is definitely something for everyone.
Note that if you plan to attend this event, you can pick up a Liberation Family Fun Day Ration Book for free, with tokens inside for a free Surf & Turf hog roast (for the first 300 people), and money off vouchers for ice cream and the rides. They can be collected from the Douzaine office on Wednesday and Friday this week between 10am and Midday.
Forest Family Fun Day
12pm to 8pm Mallard Showground and Venture Inn
Forest parish have gone all out to offer something for all ages. They are hoping to have 5 bouncy castles that will all be FREE and for older children they are planning for a bucking bronco. This will be alongside the live music from 12pm to 8pm on the Venture stage, and dance exhibitions from The Retro Rockers. And if that wasn’t enough, for car enthusiasts, there will be classic cars in the Mallard Car Park and the Triumph Motorcycle Group display.
Don’t forget to take cash with you if you want to shop at the Forest School PTA stalls, buy raffle tickets and take part in the meat draw. There will be various food concessions on offer, however, they do encourage picnics on the large grassed area, so get the Tupperware out and pack your picnic blankets!
CLICK HERE to visit the Guernsey Retro Facebook page for more info.
St Andrews Liberation Day at the Last Post
Midday to 12am, The Last Post/Les Buttes
The Liberation celebrations at The Last Post have a festival vibe with 2 stages where bands will be playing live music from 12pm to 8pm outside, and 8pm to 12am inside, plus there will be a BBQ and a tea party in the marquee. We celebrated Liberation Day at The Last Post shortly after moving to Guernsey, and the atmosphere was fantastic.
For children there will be a massive amount on offer at the back of the car park and on the grassed area. They have secured some real favourite bouncy castles including the huge castle slide, seaworld obstacle course, unicorn bouncy castle and the boxing ring, and the best bit is that they will be free of charge. They will also be offering road chalk drawing, a teddy bear’s picnic, face painting and traditional games including coconut shy, can knock-out and a hoop game (again all free), along with use of The Last Post children’s playground. And don’t forget cash, because the highlight for the kids will be the milkshake and ice cream van that’s attending!
CLICK HERE to view the event Facebook page.
Castel Liberation Day
12:30pm to 4pm, in the field opposite the Vazon Loophole Tower
Castel celebrations remind me of the county fairs we used to go to in the UK, thanks to the mix of stalls, livestock and tractors, and there will be lots to entertain children of all ages.
They have secured 3 great bouncy castles…Camelot, Pirate Obstacle and the Big Blue Castle which is suitable for adults (having hired that bouncy castle for a party, I warn you that as an adult, bouncy castles are more tiring than you think!).
Don’t forget to bring cash for the stalls, some of which will be offering games for children, and there will be hot food, chocolates, sweets and ice cream on offer. They are also hoping to get some tractors and some donkeys (for patting not riding) and they have flags for the children to wave as the cavalcade passes by.
Fireworks Display
9:15pm Castle Emplacement
For kids that can stay up until 9:15pm, the fireworks display from St Peter Port signals the end of the day’s celebrations and is always a lovely spectacle. If you can’t make it to watch the display in person, it can be viewed live online at liberationday.gg
One Last Thing...
From Monday 2nd May, children can pick up a FREE Liberation Day Activity Pack, featuring Liberation Day ‘paint your pebble’ and an activity booklet with themed crosswords, word searches, colouring activities and a cavalcade checklist. There are 500 packs available (one per family), made possible by support from Credit Suisse. Liberation Day Activity Packs can be collected from Beau Sejour Leisure Centre reception on a first-come-first-served basis, so make sure to hurry down and grab yours!
