A Week of Celebration of VE Day Planned in Hammersmith and Fulham

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Culminates in free family fun day in Ravenscourt Park

Bunny Nighingale will be appearing in Ravenscourt Park on Saturday 10 May

May 5, 2025

Celebration of the 80th anniversary of the allied victory in Europe has already begun across Hammersmith and Fulham.

Monday 5 May has been officially dedicated to community celebrations for VE Day as it falls on a Bank Holiday and residents should be able to see planes returning from the fly past over Buckingham Palace.

Street parties are being held across the borough and they kick off a week of celebration and events. Eighty years ago, street parties were how the nation celebrated the end of the war. This year residents are recreating the celebrations with their neighbours once again, closing their streets to host a Street Party or Big Lunch mainly on the Bank Holiday.

Germany’s unconditional surrender was given on 8 May 1945 and the local commemoration of this momentous day culminates in a free family fun day in Ravenscourt Park on Saturday 10 May.

On Wednesday 7 May, from 6-7pm, in Shepherds’ Bush Library there will be an author talk with Colin Douglas who wrote The Caribbean's role in the Second World War. The Caribbean made a pivotal contribution to the Allied victory and paid a heavy price in terms of U-boat attacks, rationing and economic hardship. Yet the region's role in the Second World War and the war's impact on the region, have been widely ignored. Book your free place by emailing ShepherdsBushLibrary@lbhf.gov.uk or call 020 8753 3842.

Victory celebrations on a Hammersmith street in 1945

A VE Day afternoon tea is taking place on Thursday 8 May at Sands End Arts and Community Centre from 3:30 – 5pm. Enjoy classic scones, sandwiches, and sweet delights, all served with a touch of vintage flair. Dress in your best 1940s style if you fancy. Find out more and book tickets here.

On the day of the anniversary itself there will be a VE Day beacon lighting ceremony on Thursday 8 May, from 9-9.45pm in Lyric Square in Hammersmith. At 9.30pm beacons and Lamp Lights of Peace will shine across the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, and UK Overseas Territories.

The on Saturday 10 May from 11am to 5pm, the borough’s flag ship events takes place in Ravenscourt Park. There will be a chance to ;earn about your local history in a variety of historian and archive stalls, or with Home Front reenactors who will bring to life what those living in the borough would have experienced 80 years ago. Dress up in period clothing at our on-site dress up tent – or come in your own and enter a Best Dressed competition – and take a photo alongside our tanks and armoured vehicles.

The Best Dressed competition has three categories:

Best Dressed under 16s
Best Dressed over 16s
Best Dressed pet.

The winners for each category will be chosen by ‘Sir Winston Churchill’ himself and they shall win a range of prizes. If you would like to participate be at the stage for 2.45pm, with judging to start from 3pm.

Alongside a host of family activities, the stage also boasts a packed timetable including:

a military marching band performance/s
a salute to the 1940s including performances by Vera Lang, Frank Sinatra, The Andrew Sisters, and George Formby impersonators
a jive dance class/es
Bunny Nightingale
a jazz band performance/s
meet the Churchills.

Round it all off with a bite to eat at a street food zone run by Urban Food Fest, providing a variety of cuisines and a bar, or bring your own picnic.

Food stalls include:

Quality Fish & Chips
The Caribbean Pelican
Fantastic Catering
Grillz on Wheelz
Berlin Doner
Honest Food Burgers
Philly Philly
Crepe Masters
Quality Coffee
Marcello Ice Cream.

The remembrance of VE Day and local history does not end there. On Sunday 11 May, from 10.45am-12.15pm and Askew village walk from Iya London Walks is taking place which will explore the impact of two world wars on Askew Village.

As well as marking the lives lost and property destroyed by war, the walk celebrates new assets created for the community after 1945.

You'll see the remarkable interior of St. Bobola, a Polish church containing stained glass and other memorials to Polish forces who fought alongside the Allies during the Second World War.

You'll also see Greenside School, designed by the famous modernist architect Erno Goldfinger.

Booking is essential – book your space on Eventbrite and meet at 128 Askew Road.

Looking further out there is a chance to join a family picnic in Ravenscourt Park on Sunday 22 June.

The Polish Social and Cultural Association in Hammersmith is hosting the event to celebrate the end of the Second World War.

Taking place from 12noon to 6pm, join for artistic performances, food stalls, children's art workshops, a book fair and lots of activities for the whole family.

When the UK Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, broke news of VE Day via radio announcement people celebrated in their streets and homes across the UK .

If your family, friends or neighbours got involved on the day, served in the war or lived in H&F during this period, the council would love to hear their stories. Share your photos and stories with it so it can include them in its VE Day exhibition. Email them to events@lbhf.gov.uk.

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