The day itself is a mixture of rememberance and celebration, starting in the morning with the Liberation Religous Service. Around lunchtime, people start flocking towards the seafront, which becomes a pedestrianised area, with the exception of the quinquennial Cavalcade, which sees a large number of military and wartime-era vehicles parading around the Island's coast.

The Town seafront and piers are full of street entertainers, stages for bands, marquees, food and drink tents, and the popular Crown and Anchor stall. There is plenty to do for all ages, and the day is rounded off by a grand fireworks display, traditionally commencing at 10pm, from the Castle Emplacement.

The Culture and Leisure Department work in liaison with event organisers Guernsey Event Company, Churches Together in Guernsey, the emergency services and a number of other stakeholders to ensure that the celebrations are safe, entertaining and educational or have a commemorative message.

In 2005, the Department organised the 60th Anniversary Liberation Celebrations, which was a massive undertaking. The day was marked by the appearance of special guests HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, and featured the largest ever Cavalcade, which saw hundreds of entries ranging from horses, military vehicles, floats and large groups in wartime costume. Ever popular events such as the Tea Party for those liberated, evacuated or deported and the Wave Telecom Concert of Liberated Youth reappeared, and the Specsavers Liberation Ball proved to be a real success.

Since then, Liberation 2006 and 2007 have passed successfully, with the latter seeing the introduction of 'Libjam', an extreme sports extravaganza featuring bicycles, motorcycles and skateboards performing outrageous feats.

Sponsorship

In order for the Liberation Celebrations to be successful, it is essential that corporate sponsorship is sought to help with the costs of bringing over street entertainers, covering health and safety costs, putting up grandstands etc. Potential sponsors are able to have banners erected along the seafront and have advertising copy inside the official Liberation programme in return for their generousity. They are also able to sponsor individual events, such as the Tea Party, Liberated Youth Concert etc. If you would like to learn more about becoming a sponsor, please contact Alex Bridle at The Guernsey Event Company on 01481 728686. Email alex@evetguernsey.com.  For general enquiries regarding Liberation Celebrations, please contact Peter Falla, Marketing Director, at peter.falla@cultureleisure.gov.gg.