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Date: Wednesday 7 May and Thursday 8 May 2025
Venue: Belfast City Hall and Belfast city centre
Category: Arts and culture, Belfast City Hall, Music
We have a special programme of events marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day.
Tickets for these events will be available from the Visit Belfast website (link opens in new window) from 9am on Wednesday 23 April. Or, you can call 028 9024 6609 from this time.
Tickets are limited to one pair per person and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Wednesday 7 May, 7.30pm to 9pm, City Hall
Comedian Tim McGarry and historian Dr David Hume, from BBC NI’s The Long and Short of It, will look back at the city’s wartime experiences, with music from Jonathan Rea and Sylvia Burnside and readings from the NI War Memorial’s Oral History Archive.
The event will finish in the grounds of City Hall, next to a replica Supermarine Spitfire, used by Allied Forces during World War II.
There will be a brass band performance at 9pm, along with a relay of Winston Churchill and King George VI’s historic speeches from 8 May 1945, announcing the end of the war in Europe.
This is a free event.
Book tickets at Visit Belfast (link opens in new window)
Thursday 8 May, 10am and 2pm, Belfast city centre
Historian Jason Burke will lead guided walking tours of Belfast city centre, exploring key locations in the city’s wartime story.
Each tour will last for two hours.
Meet at City Hall reception area. This is a free event.
Book tickets (link opens in new window)
Thursday 8 May, 11am and 2pm, Belfast city centre
The NI War Memorial is running tours, focusing on the Cathedral Quarter and exploring the impact of the Belfast Blitz.
Each tour will last 90 minutes.
Meet at the NI War Memorial, 21 Talbot Street. This is a free event.
Book walking tour tickets (link opens in new window)
Thursday 8 May, 1pm to 3pm, City Hall
BBC Radio Ulster’s Hugo Duncan will host a tea dance, capturing the joy and celebration of Belfast on VE Day 1945 and featuring retro music and dancing from Swing Gals, Tony Allen (Foster and Allen), Curtis Magee, Boxcar Brian and Country Harmony.
This event is now sold out but it will be broadcast live on Hugo’s radio show (1.30pm, Radio Ulster).
Thursday 8 May, 10am to 5pm, City Hall
The replica Spitfire will be open for photographs and visiting, in the grounds of City Hall. You don't need a ticket.
City Hall will be illuminated in red on both Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 May.
VE Day commemoration grants
We are providing funding towards community-led activities to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. This includes street parties and fun days across Belfast.
Applications for these grants closed on Monday 14 April 2025.