Coventry celebrates the Peace Festival with greater meaning of reconciliation
The annual Remembrance Day Service and Parade will be taking place in War Memorial Park on Sunday 12 November. Photo: X @Coventry Council
From November 1 to November 14, Coventry will host the annual festival that commemorates the 83rd anniversary of the blitz that destroyed the city.
By Javier López-Cuervo
Peace, tolerance and respect. Through these premises, Coventry Peace Festival will be held again during the first two weeks of November. The event promotes working and raising awareness among the city's population around an important date, which symbolizes the anniversary of the 1940 bombing in which Coventry Cathedral was demolished by the Nazi army in the II World War. The festival will host different groups that will gather around the search for peace in Coventry. This event includes guided tours of the city, art workshops and outdoor activities. Schools and some small communities will also hold internal events.
Councillor Jaswant Singh Birdi, Lord Mayor of Coventry, stated that this ‘is an event that brings everyone together to join Coventry’s work as a city of peace and reconciliation, of sanctuary and welcome. The work we do here at home supports the work our city carries out around the world in bringing people of all faiths and nationalities together in friendship’.
“This month marks the 83rd anniversary of the blitz that devastated Coventry and saw its rebirth as a city that reaches out to others to spread a message of reconciliation”
He also expressed the importance of the festival due to the need of reconciliation that Coventry and England have: ‘This month marks the 83rd anniversary of the blitz that devastated Coventry and saw its rebirth as a city that reaches out to others to spread a message of reconciliation. In those years we have achieved so much, and yet, sadly, there is still so much left to do’.
Furthermore, a detailed tour of Coventry's history can be done at the Herbert Museum, including the mystery of Lady Godiva and the Nazi attack on the cathedral. It explains the bombing that killed more than a thousand people, 568 during the night of November 14, 1940. Coventry had been a key point at a geostrategic level, due to its contribution of weapons and equipment for the war. Historian Frederick Taylor affirms that 'Coventry was therefore, in terms of what little law existed on the subject, a legitimate target for aerial bombing'.
After the blitz, Coventry became a pioneer in signing peace pacts. It was the first city to be twin with another city, which was Stalingrad. Currently, Coventry has 26 agreements of the same type with different cities around the world. In fact, it is a benchmark in terms of reconciliation. In sight of the political and international war problems that are happening at this moment, the Councillor declared: ‘There remains ongoing conflicts around the world which means the call for peace is needed now as much as ever. That is why Coventry will always continue its work here in our own city and with our friends around the globe – and it is why the Peace Festival is so very important. This year, as ever, there is much to see and do’.
Today, 9th of November, visitors will have a tour around the city centre and the main Peace and Reconciliation monuments. In the afternoon, the people are having a mindfulness session and writing letters. Friday, November 10, Lord Mayor’s Peace Lecture is taking place. The weekend will host the West Orchards Armistice Day Poppy Drop, the Remembrance Day Service and Parade and the Communal Grave Service. Last days will be dedicated to an art workshop and Peace and Reconciliation Wall Hanging.