With two weeks to go until The Platinum Jubilee Beacons, organisers have announced that over 2,800 beacons will be lit all over the UK and Commonwealth. On Thursday 2nd June, the first day of the Jubilee Weekend:
- Over 2,800 beacons will be lit by charities, community groups, local councils, and others all over the UK.
- Beacons will be lit in all 54 Commonwealth member states, with the first ones expected to be lit in Tonga and Samoa, and the final one in Belize.
- The Principal Beacon will be lit at Buckingham Palace by a Senior Royal. This will take the form of a lighting installation with The Queen’s Green Canopy ‘Tree of Trees’ sculpture and projections onto the front of Buckingham Palace.
Some highlights of beacon lighting in the UK include:
- Scouts are lighting at least 70 beacons in honour of their Patron, The Queen. These range from as far south as Cornwall all the way up to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. They’ll be lit as far west as Merthyr Tydfil and as far east as the Norfolk Broads. One in Wilton, Wiltshire will be lit in the same place and by the same Scout Group where a beacon was lit on the night of the Coronation.
- At least 70 beacons will be lit by Girlguiding members in honour of their Patron, The Queen, across the UK and beyond to mark each year the Queen has been on the throne. Girlguiding has also created a virtual beacon that the charity will be ‘lighting’ on Girlguiding Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages at 9.45pm on Thursday 2 June.
- Walking With The Wounded will light beacons on the four highest peaks of the UK: Ben Nevis, Scotland; Scafell Pike, England; Mount Snowdon, Wales; and Slieve Donard, Northern Ireland.
- Over 40 beacons will be lit at 30 locations across the communities of Hadrian’s Wall Country from Muncaster to South Shields, forming a chain of light of more than 120 miles.
- Beacons will be lit at other historic sites such as Lambeth Palace, the Tower of London, Windsor Great Park, Hillsborough Castle, and the Royal Estates of Sandringham and Balmoral.
As well as traditional beacon lighting, other creative ways will be used by individuals and communities to mark the Queen’s Jubilee. These include:
- Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust is lighting a sustainable beacon, outside of the Werneth Building on Fountain Street in in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester. Old and broken hospital beds will be melded into a crown-shaped beacon, which will be illuminated in a light display.
- Illuminated River, the world’s longest public artwork, will be lighting up nine central London Thames Bridges in a celebratory sequence of majestically evolving colour and light.
- Iconic buildings like BT Tower will be lighting up.
- Several English Cathedrals – namely, Durham, Ely, Lichfield, Peterborough and Rochester – will all be lighting up red, white, and blue.
Bruno Peek LVO OBE OPR, Pageantmaster of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons, said: “The Queen has lit up the nation and the Commonwealth for 70 years, and it is only fitting that we do the same for her. It’s amazing to see the range of charities, community groups, and faith groups taking part. For the first time ever, we are taking beacons all over the Commonwealth, to each of the 54 countries. It’s wonderful to see people wishing to take part in so many ways from traditional beacon lighting and bonfires to lighting up buildings and monuments.”