Yahoo News Kent Remembrance Day services and parades you can attend in 2024
Thousands of people will come together for Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday parades and services held across Kent's towns and villages on Sunday and Monday (November 10 and 11). They are an opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of all those who have "defended our freedoms and protected our way of life," said the Royal British Legion.
It said: "We remember the Armed Forces, and their families, from Britain and the Commonwealth, the vital role played by the emergency services and those who have lost their lives as a result of conflict or terrorism."
Armistice Day, now known as Remembrance Day, marks the agreement to end fighting in the First World War. It always falls on the 11th day of the 11th month with a two minute silence held at 11am, so this year it will be on Monday (November 11).
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On Remembrance Sunday, the National Service of Remembrance will be held at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, London, so those who can not attend events in Kent, can watch the coverage on television, on BBC One and iPlayer, 10.15am to 12.35pm, with David Dimbleby presenting live coverage.
Below is a selection of events being held across Kent this year.
Remembrance Sunday
Sunday (November 10)
Canterbury: 10.25am at Buttermarket for wreath laying, then 10.50am at Canterbury Cathedral with parade via High Street at noon.
Chatham: 10.20am parade from Rhode Street Car Park along the High Street, to Victoria Gardens for 10.45am, for service and wreath laying. Parade returns to High Street for salute outside The Central Theatre. Free parking between 7am and 3pm in James Street Car Park and Riverside Car Park. Rhode Street Car Park will be shut between 7am and 3pm.
Dartford: 10.40am at War Memorial in Central Park for service, march past from High Street and along Market Street past the War Memorial. Ends at noon.
Dover: 10.30am Biggin Street to People of Dover War Memorial then to Market Square
Faversham: 10.45am at Faversham War Memorial Garden in Stone Street for parade and service. Service at St Mary of Charity Church at 11.30am.
Folkestone: 10.30am at war memorial at The Leas in Folkestone. (Saturday, November 9, New Folkestone Society's sound and light Remembrance Parade, starts at 5.45pm, parade starts at 6pm, meet on The Leas outside The Grand. Visit here.)
Gillingham: 8.45am memorial service and wreath laying at Great Lines Heritage Park. Also, 9.50am, service and wreath laying at war memorial by Medway Park, then parade towards St Mark's Church on Canterbury Street. Free parking in Medway Park between 7am and 3pm.
Kings Hill: 10am at Kings Hill Community Centre in Gibson Drive, wreath laying and service.
Maidstone: 10.30am at County Hall for parade to war memorial in The Broadway for service and wreath laying. The parade will set off from the junction of Week Street and the High Street into Lower High Street, across bridge system to the War Memorial. There will be rolling road closures, where possible. Download order of service here.
Rochester: 10.25am High Street parade followed by service at Rochester Cathedral, members of the public can attend, but limited seats. Parade march back down the High Street, stopping at war memorial to lay wreaths, then continue down High Street for salute. Free parking in Blue Boar Lane car park, Cathedral car park and Corporation Street car park between 7am and 3pm.
Sandwich: 11am at the war memorial in Market Street. Ends at 2pm.
Sevenoaks: 10.30am at The Vine in Sevenoaks.
Sheerness: 10.45am for 11am service at The Cenotaph with wreath laying. Then to Holy Trinity Church in Broadway for a service at 11.45am.
Sittingbourne: 10am at St Michael's Church in Sittingbourne with procession through the High Street to war memorial on Central Avenue at 11am for service and wreath laying until noon. Free parking except Bourne Place multi-storey car park, between 8am and 2pm. Central Avenue, from the police station to the High Street, and Central Avenue car park will be closed from 9am until noon.
Snodland: 2.30pm at Holmesdale School with parade to Snodland Cemetery for service and wreath laying.
Tonbridge: 10.30am at Tonbridge Castle, with the parade leaving to process down the High Street to Memorial Gardens at Bradford Street for a service, and wreath laying will take place.
Tunbridge Wells: 10.45am at Tunbridge Wells War Memorial. Service, wreath laying, march past. Disruption to traffic in town centre with some road closures from 10am to around noon. The service will be livestreamed on the council website. 12.45pm: Members of the public invited to Tunbridge Wells Cemetery for Civic Ceremony for wreath laying at the war memorials.
West Malling: 2pm in High Street, with a parade going to St Mary's Church for a Service of Remembrance and wreath laying afterwards at war memorial outside the church.
Remembrance Day, Monday (November 11)
The Battle of Britain Memorial in Capel-le-Ferne: 11am: Remembrance Day service
"Join us for our annual short Remembrance Day service of commemoration and wreath laying on Monday. The short service begins at 11am - please arrive ten minutes or so before that. Visitors are encouraged to attend.After paying tribute, take a peaceful stroll around the Memorial. Then, stop by the Cockpit Café for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake.
No need to book in advance. Entry is free, although donations are welcomed. Nominal parking charges apply. Address: Battle of Britain Memorial, New Dover Rd, Capel-le-Ferne, Folkestone, CT18 7JJ. Visit here.
Canterbury: 11am, Burgate, Canterbury.
Folkestone: 11am, Machine Gun Corps, Cheriton Road Cemetery, Folkestone.
Sevenoaks: 10.50am, Greatness Cemetery, Seal Road, Sevenoaks.
Tonbridge: 11am, a two minute silence starting and ending with firing of marroons, followed by a short service at the Town Memorial by the Watergate.
Tunbridge Wells: 11am, at war memorial in town centre, road closed briefly, two minute silence with firing of marrons. 11.40am, at the Victoria Cross Memorial Grove in Dunorlan Park, near the Bayhall Road entrance, wreath laying.
*There will be more events on Monday, please check with your local Royal British Legion or on council websites.
Why is it called Armistice Day?
You will have heard the phrase: "At the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month – we will remember them." Here's an explanation as to why those times are such an important part of our history and the world's, and why they are remembered each year.
The Armistice, which was an agreement to end the fighting of the First World War as a prelude to peace negotiations, began at 11am on November 11, 1918. The word armistice is Latin for to stand (still) arms.
To this day, Armistice Day, also known as Remembrance Day, is marked around the UK with a two-minute silence at 11am, on the 11th day, of the 11th month.
What happened to stop the First World War?
Germany signed the agreement for peace, the armistice, which caused the fighting to stop. It was great cause for celebration in Britain, France and the countries which supported them.
A "cease fire order took effect on all fronts at 11am" on November 11, 1918, said the front page splash of the Sheffield Independent, and you can see this fascinating coverage, which hit the news stands the following day, here with the BBC.
