Paris to commemorate 80th anniversary end of WW2 in Europe
A huge celebration is set to take place on May 8 in Paris to honour the occasion
Commemorations will take place around the Arc de Triomphe
Elena Dijour/Shutterstock
France will celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) day on Thursday, May 8 with a public holiday and an event in Paris broadcast live on television.
It will commemorate those who gave their lives during the conflict, and be attended by some of the last surviving WW2 veterans.
May 8 was declared a public holiday in 1953, but was abolished in 1959 by General de Gaulle in the context of Franco-German reconciliation, only to be reinstated in 1981.
This year, France will hold a commemoration in the Place de l’Étoile in Paris presided over by President Emmanuel Macron.
It will mark the 80th anniversary of the moment when, at 15:00 on 8 May 1945, church bells rang across France and the surrender of Nazi Germany was confirmed by General de Gaulle, speaking to France over the radio.
The commemorations begin at 17:20 with a wreath-laying ceremony in front of the statue of General de Gaulle on the Champs-Elysées.
The official programme will be centred around the Arc de Triomphe are will run as follows:
17:50 - Honour and review the troops. President Macron will arrive.
18.10 - Speech by President Macron.
18.30 - Wreath laying; rekindling of the flame; the ‘La Sonnerie aux Morts’ bugle call; minute’s silence; the Marseillaise performed by the French Army Choir. Greetings from flag bearers, association presidents and veterans. Performance of the Liberation March by the Allied bands.
19.10 - Parade of veterans associations. The Patrouille de France, the French armed forces’ aerobatics demonstration unit, will end the parade with an aerial display.
