Capital welcomes Armed Forces Day

Published on Monday 18 April 2011 14:44

SCOTLAND'S capital is to stage three days of special events to mark its hosting of Britain's Armed Forces Day this summer.

Two huge parades down the Royal Mile, a Red Arrows air display over the Firth of Forth, military boating exercises in Leith Docks, a gala concert, and open-air parties in Holyrood Park will be part of the programme.

The Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force will each be playing a major part in the festivities, which will see shops and other businesses in the capital urged to display window stickers to show their support for the event.

More than 80,000 people are expected to flock to the city for the occasion, which is being jointly organised by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Scottish Government and the city council.

Several senior members of the royal family and many of the most senior figures in the UK military will be taking part in high-profile events over the weekend.

City, government and MoD are funding the 180,000 celebration after Edinburgh was selected to be the UK home for a national celebration after Birmingham, Blackpool and Cardiff played host in previous years.

The city council has decided to stage three days of events in Edinburgh from 24-26 June in a bid to further raise the profile of the extravaganza, which was instigated by the then chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown in 2006.

The highlight of the weekend, on 25 June, is expected to be a parade of more than 1500 armed services personnel, veterans and cadets from Edinburgh Castle esplanade to Holyrood Park, the latter of which will host parachute displays, live music, and a veterans' village.

The following day will see a parade of massed pipes and drums, which will follow the same route down the Royal Mile, organised by the charity DecAid, which raises funds to support servicemen and women and their families who have been affected by the conflict in Afghanistan.

The celebrations will get under way in Leith on 24 June with activities including guided tours of HMS Portland, the Clyde-built Type 23 frigate.

The gala concert on the opening night will be staged at the Usher Hall and will feature a some of the UK's leading military bands.

The council is planning to digitise the military memorabilia collected by Field Marshall Douglas Haig, which it holds in its archives, in time for the celebrations.

Jim Inch, the city council's director of corporate services, said: "It is likely that the Armed Forces Day celebrations in Edinburgh will be televised, as was the case in Cardiff last year.

"More than 80,000 people attended that event and it is anticipated that there will also be significant interest in the Edinburgh celebrations."