Read to commemorate 80th anniversary of VE Day with special May Day Bank Holiday celebration

A special event to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE day will take place at the Read & Simonstone Constitutional Club on Monday 5th May.

Members of the public are being invited to attend the event which will run from 12pm-5pm, with the ringing of the church bells and a flag raising at the constitutional club.

An afternoon of 1940s family-friendly fun will then follow including military vehicles, craft stalls, face painting, a special lone piper performance, hot dogs, a pizza van, tea, scones with jam and cream, plus games such as splat the rat and hopscotch.

With support from the Burnley & Padiham Branch of the Royal British Legion, the free-to-attend event will also feature a live singer and karaoke from 2pm, a children’s poster and poetry competition at 4pm and a raffle at 5pm.

Those attending are also being encouraged to attend in 1940s dress.

Pendle Hill Properties, who have an office based in Read, are also supporting the event with their Candy Bomber commemoration at 1pm, which will see them hand out 250 free Hershey’s bars and 250 toy parachutists to children attending the VE day celebration from a WWII jeep.

The activity will commemorate The Candy Bomber, Col. Gail Seymour Halvorsen, an American pilot who gained fame for dropping 23 tons of candy to German children during the Berlin airlift of 1948 by tying a handkerchief to the candy bar and dropping it out of his plane.

The initiative has been a popular attraction at many local events including the Uniformed Services Family Fun Day at Towneley Park in Burnley.

Steve Neary from Read & Simonstone Constitutional Club, said: “We are delighted to announce our VE Day celebration, which will be a fantastic day out for all the family.

“We have an action-packed day of activities, and we look forward to all the community coming together to mark the occasion.”

Andrew Turner, managing director of Pendle Hill Properties, said: “We are proud to be supporting another great local event, and we are really excited about the activities taking place at Read Con Club on May Day Bank Holiday.

“Our Candy Comber commemoration has been really popular at events around Lancashire, and we would recommend that everyone gets down there early to avoid disappointment.”

Further information about Pendle Hill Properties can be seen on their website: www.pendlehillproperties.co.uk