Public urged to hold their own Lib Day celebrations
LIBERATION Day celebrations will be spread around the island this year to limit the number of people gathering in Town.
Up to 10,000 people can descend on St Peter Port for the annual celebration in normal years.
Instead, organisers have urged neighbours, friends and families to watch the cavalcade, which will go round the island for the first time, and then hold their own parties within their community.
The morning will see the Town Church Liberation Day service being live streamed.
The unveiling of a Liberation monument and laying of the wreath will be shown in digital format.
‘It is fantastic that as an island we are in a better place to celebrate Liberation Day this year than we were in 2020, when people will recall we had to largely all mark the day from our own homes,’ said Deputy Sue Aldwell, who sits on the Liberation Day Organising Committee.
‘But we need to be a little cautious and having discussed this at length with Public Health – and I’d like to thank them for the advice and guidance they gave us – we have taken what we believe is a sensible approach to celebrating what is such a special day for all of us.
‘Plans for those celebrations are full steam ahead but they will look and feel a bit different. We want everyone to get out and enjoy the freedom we have, but we just didn’t think it was sensible to have up to 10,000 people crammed together in Town at the moment.
‘We felt Liberation Day this year just came a little bit too soon after lockdown, and were concerned about having such large numbers of people in close proximity even if the island remains Covid-free at that point as we all hope it will be.
‘So our plea today is for everyone to get their thinking hats on, discuss with their friends, families and neighbours, and come up with great ideas for their own celebrations closer to home.
‘We really hope that there will end up being lots of these scattered across the island, which while limiting the number of people at any one location means the many people who normally enjoy Liberation Day will still be able to do so.
‘We’re very excited for our plans for an around-island cavalcade and are working hard to make that happen.’
A social media campaign, Decorate to Liberate, which ran last year and encouraged people to put up bunting and other decorations on their homes to show their Guernsey pride, will run again.
