BIG celebrations are planned in Wellington to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

This year’s annual street fair will return on Saturday, June 1, with a 1940s facelift and up to 80 stalls manned by local crafters, traders, charities and community groups.

A suite of entertainment is booked for the occasion, with the Liberty Sisters jazz group performing a medley of 1940s songs - and a miniature tank, complete with operational confetti cannon, patrolling the event.

On Sunday, June 2, the Friends of Wellington Park will launch their summer programme of weekly musical events in the park with performances by Ivy Belle and Rod Thomas. The park will also play host to some war-era tunes in homage to the landing’s anniversary.

On Thursday, June 6, which is 80 years to the day Allied troops landed on French shores, town crier Andrew Norris will make an official proclamation in the town centre, before Wellington Town Council signs the Armed Forces Covenant in a public ceremony.

The covenant is a commitment by the council that they will recognise the unique sacrifices made by British troops in the line of duty. The signing will take place in Wellington Park at 7.15pm, and will be overseen by the second in command of 6 RIFLES. Afterward the Wellington Silver Band will perform from the bandstand between 7.30pm and 8.30pm, with a commemorative beacon set to be lit at 9.15 pm in memory of D-Day.

And on Saturday, June 8, the Wellington branch of the Royal British Legion is hosting a commemoration service at the town’s war memorial in the park, and have extended an invitation to any and all who would like to join them in an act of remembrance.