Star-Studded Concert Marks VE Day Anniversary

A star-studded concert has taken place in London to mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day.

Katherine Jenkins, Pixie Lott, Status Quo and couples from Strictly Come Dancing were among those performing 1940s-inspired songs at London's Horse Guard Parade.

Thousands of members of the public turned out for The Party To Remember concert, as well as a host of Second World War veterans.

The concert, hosted by DJ Chris Evans, included readings by well-known actors such as Martin Shaw, Richard E Grant and Robert Lindsay, documenting personal accounts of the war.

Short films featuring interviews with veterans and archive footage from the time were also played.

The concert came hours after cathedrals and churches across the UK rang their bells in unison at exactly 11am.

The ringing signified the end to the years bells hung in silence throughout the war.

Tomorrow, around 1,000 veterans and their families will attend a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey.

They will be joined by members of the Royal Family, MPs, members of the Armed Forces and representatives of the Allied nations and Commonwealth countries that fought alongside Britain.

A parade of bands, veterans and current servicemen and women will then make their way from the abbey along Whitehall.

They will pass the balcony where Winston Churchill made a historic speech before vast crowds.

A reception will then be held for veterans in St James's Park hosted by the Legion, where there will also be vehicles from the 1940s.

The public can watch the ceremony at the abbey from Horse Guards Parade.

They will also be able to see the veterans parade and the changing of The Queen's Life Guard by the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

In the afternoon, there will be a fly-past over central London by the Red Arrows.

That will be followed by a fly-by of aircraft that helped Britain and her Allies win the war - the Lancaster bomber and Spitfire and Hurricane fighters.

Trafalgar Square will also be decked with bunting and The Band of the Grenadier Guards will perform music from the era opposite Nelson's Column.

Yesterday, wreaths were placed at the Cenotaph and the Queen led a ceremony to light beacons across the UK.

Other countries have also held VE Day events.

Russia, which lost more people in the war than any other country, is holding a Victory parade in Moscow's Red Square.