North East Lincolnshire Armed Forces Day (weekend) will be celebrated in Cleethorpes again on 28-30 June this year with the largest, free event on the east coast.
The resort, which has hosted Armed Forces Days for the last decade, will see a full programme of events to show support to the men and women of our armed forces, the armed forces community and our veterans. Events will take place from Sea Road through to the Boating lake.
To mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, there will be displays and activities at the Boating Lake Paddock throughout Saturday and Sunday. Groups will be commemorating this enormous endeavour which resulted in freeing the peoples of Europe and later ending the Second World War.
The armed forces events team have brought back the original Community Carnival (now the Armed Forces Community Carnival) on the Friday evening following the exponential growth in participation and numbers. On top of that, a number of local dance groups and bands will be performing on the stage near to the Armed Forces Memorial Gate on Alexandra Road throughout the weekend in the main area of the resort.
These include groups from the Clifton dance academy as well as the All for One choir, comprising of over 100 people.
On the ground, there will also be a number of carnivals and parades taking place over the three days. The first will be held along the High Street and Alexandra Road on the Friday evening with 80 floats and participants getting involved.
On Saturday afternoon, the main Armed Forces Day parade with military bands, members of the armed forces, veterans and cadets will take place. This will begin on Grant Street before moving along on Alexandra Road.
There will also be an evening sunset ceremony on the Saturday evening including cadets and the Sea Cadet Band, a march of the standards and veterans before the Union Flag is lowered at the Remembrance Gate.
However, you will have to look up to the skies for the rest of the entertainment with a number of aerial displays set to take place.
On Saturday, the Red Arrows will be performing to mark their 60th Anniversary alongside displays including the wonderful RAF Typhoon and RAF Tutor. These displays will be taking place across the main area of the resort.
Saturday will culminate with the return of a fireworks display which will be held near Ross Castle. The weekend is also being supported by traders from Lincolnshire and beyond, with the Big Wheel returning to the leisure centre car park for the weekend.
Alex Baxter, Managing Director of the Armed Forces Major Events Team, said: “This is the biggest, free event on the east coast held to thank our armed forces personnel, past and present, for their service to our country and their support to civilian life. We are a small group of volunteers who organise the weekend, and it takes almost a year of planning, but it’s always a fabulous weekend in the resort.”
Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/simon
 will be celebrated in Cleethorpes again on 28-30 June this year.){kind=link}