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With four days of celebrations, Jersey is turning red, white and blue for a variety of on-island events to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
From ‘high tea’ on the High Street to a screening of the Platinum Palace Party in Howard Davis Park, there are countless ways to celebrate the Queen’s 70 years of service – the first time a British monarch has marked a Platinum Jubilee.
Jersey’s official event schedule has been designed not to conflict with the national programme of broadcasted events, which includes the Trooping the Colour in London.
As well as planned events, the National Trust has been transforming former potato fields into woodland and Government House recently unveiled its planned Jubilee sundial.
More than 600 first responders, prison staff and Armed Forces are also being awarded commemorative medals to mark the milestone.
Read on to discover the events taking place across Jersey this bank holiday weekend…
To start the weekend of events, the Lieutenant Governor, Sir Stephen Dalton and Lady Dalton are hosting the Queen's Birthday Reception at Government House at 19:00.
The event will include entertainment from the Band of the Island of Jersey and a 21-gun salute from the Jersey Militia.
To celebrate the Jubilee weekend, the Jersey Tourist Guides Associated is hosting a free tour for islanders to discover more about Jersey’s rich history of connections with royalty.
In a two hour walk, a local guide will tell tales and gossip about royal visits while walking through the streets of St Helier. The tour starts at 10:30 outside the St Helier Town Hall.
As part of the coordinated national programme, Jersey is helping to light up the skies across the British Isles for the Jubilee Beacons, one of the official events of the Jubilee. More than 1,500 beacons will be lit across the UK, Crown Dependencies and Overseas territories.
The event takes place on Glacis Field (south of Fort Regent) and will accommodate up to 5,000 members of public.
Running from 16:00 to 22:00, there will be live music, food and entertainment leading up to the lighting of a virtual beacon at 9.45pm. The beacon is situated on Mount Bingham so will be visible from St Helier and St Saviour. A choir of 90 young people will sing the specially commissioned 'Song for the Commonwealth'.
Many parishes are holding Afternoon Tea parties to celebrate the Queen's Platinum year across the week - and they'll be getting a special visitor.
The living History specialist re-enactor who regularly plays King Charles II at Elizabeth Castle enthralling visitors with stories from the ‘Merry Monarch’s’ life and his time in Jersey is doing a tour of many of the islands’ parish Jubilee celebration events to add an extra stately touch to their proceedings.
The island tour kindly sponsored by The Jersey Community Foundation with Funds from The Channel Islands Lottery will aim to highlight to today’s islanders the important role their forebears played in supporting the Royalists during the reformation of the Monarchy after the English Civil War.
Charles II who was the first king after this tumultuous time, visited and was extremely fond of the island and shares many interests and passions with today’s Monarch whose Platinum Jubilee we celebrate.
The first stops will be on 2 June, at St. Lawrence's Parish Hall at 14:00 and St. Peter's Community Centre Car Park at 15:00.
There will be free football at Parade Gardens from 10:00 thanks to Sportsbug Jersey.
Following criticism from organisers over the last-minute changes to Victoria Avenue closures, the Jersey International Motoring Festival Pageant now starts at approximately 10:30am with a formal march past on Broad Street consisting of representatives from all uniformed organisations in Jersey.
The pageant will be reviewed by the Bailiff and followed by vehicles to represent the seven decades of the Queen’s reign.
The traditional Moonlight Spring will be held on Victoria Avenue from 18:30.
Taking place on the Friday bank holiday, the Royal Yacht is hosting a Jubilee edition of their population ‘Beats on the Balcony’ event starting at 13:00.
With a mix of resident and local DJs, including Craig Alder, Griff and Steve Ferbrache, providing tunes on the Sirocco balcony, islanders can also indulge with a new brunch style menu.
The Lieutenant-Governor and his wife, Lady Dalton, will be joining sponsors and supporters to plant seven ceremonial trees to kick-start an exciting project that aims to add 700 trees and 700 shrubs, to a new site on Bouley Bay Hill as part of the nationwide initiative, The Queen’s Green Canopy project.
The aim of QGC project is to encourage groups, communities and organisations, across Great Britain to enhance the environment by planting trees throughout 2022, as well as dedicating a network of 70 Ancient Woodlands across the United Kingdom and identify 70 Ancient Trees to celebrate Her Majesty’s 70 years of service.
At 09:45, there'll be a ceremonial planting at Le Don Bradstock on Bouley Bay Hill, with Trinity's Constable and JEC CEO Chris Ambler also in attendance.
HMS Brocklesby, a Royal Navy Hunt Class mine countermeasure vessel will be in Jersey and on Saturday.
As a Mine Counter-Measures Vessel, HMS Brocklesby’s role is simple: to detect and destroy enemy mines. She is 60 meters in length, 685 tonnes and has a top speed of 17+ knots. Made up of six officers and 39 ratings, the crew of HMS Brocklesby includes Engineers, Divers, Mine Warfare Specialists and more. Together their roles and responsibilities include; mine detection, mine clearance, operating weaponry, offshore patrols, humanitarian support and disaster relief.
She will be open to the public on Saturday 4 June in various slots between 10:00am and 12:15 and 13:15 and 16:15.
Local boat owners are being encouraged to join a nationwide initiative to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebration by sounding their vessel's horn or whistle in salute.
The 'salute' is due to take place at 12:00 on Saturday 4 June and will involve a number of UK ships and vessels in British waters. It is being co-ordinated by the British Ports Association.
Families are invited to Howard Davis Park from 18:00 to 22:30 for the live screening of the BBC’s concert from Buckingham Palace.
Bringing together some of the world’s biggest entertainment stars, the screening begins at 20:00 and the park is open for picnicking from 18:00.
What do St Peter’s Valley and Quétivel mill have to do with the royals? Find out as the National Trust delve into Jersey’s Royal heritage in an open day at Le Moulin de Quétivel to commemorate the Queen’s Jubilee.
Discover why the King’s tenants living in the parish of St. Brelade were required to grind their grain at Quétivel mill and who was living at the mill when Queen Victoria visited St Peter’s Valley in 1859.
The mill is open from 10:00 to 16:00.
The Queen is famous for her hats so make sure you dress to impress and leave your hat on for this grand picnic at Elizabeth Castle.
Hosted by Jersey Heritage, islanders are invited to "bring a picnic the Queen would be proud of" from 14:00 to 17:00.
Throughout the week, you can also learn about Queen Elizabeth’s history at both Elizabeth Castle and Mont Orgueil.
King Charles II will be continuing his tour of the parishes' Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
He'll start the day at St. Mary at 10:45, then head to St. Saviour at 12:00 before St. Clement at 13:15 and St. John at 14:00. Trinity will come next at 14:30, and then it's onto St. Martin at 15:00 and Grouville at 15:45.
The latter two parishes are particularly pushing the Royal boat out for their celebrations.
Grouville's celebrations will be taking place between 12:00 and 19:30 on Gorey Common, including a Church blessing, tree planting ceremony, live music, games and food. Islanders will be encouraged to BYOP - 'bring your own picnic'!
Meanwhile in St. Martin, there'll be a Marquee on the Village green hosting a Royal Afternoon Tea with free entertainment and bouncy castles between 13:30 and 16:30. This costs £6 per person - unless they are over 70 and a St. Martin parishioner, in which case they'll have free entry.
Later, there'll be a Commonwealth BBQ accompanied by live music, with attendees encouraged to dress in red, white and blue.
In St. Helier, there'll be brunch at the Town Hall between 10:00 and 12:30 and all are welcome. The Parish will also be unveiling a dozen Platinum Jubilee benches - this follows the commissioning of the Diamond Jubilee benches 10 years ago.
A church service led by the Very Reverend Mike Keirle, the Dean of Jersey, will take place at the Town Church in St Helier at 10am.
Islanders with tickets for this sold-out event will enjoy a Jubilee themed afternoon tea on a table running the length of St. Helier’s Broad Street.
Celebrations will feature live music, themed decorations and a boxed afternoon tea complete with sandwiches, scones and the Queen’s favourite cake, the chocolate biscuit cake.
Immerse yourself in history and celebrate the Queen’s ancestry with Jersey Heritage’s ‘Tudor Day’ at Mont Orgeil. This fascinating period will be brought to life by Tudor characters from 10:00 to 17:00.
An exhibition at Jersey Archive will use old newspaper photos and documents to explore the Royal Visits of the Monarch to Jersey before and during her 70 years on the throne.
Between 10:00 and 14:00, Jersey Archive will be showcasing an assortment of items from Jersey Heritage's collections associated with the Queen, previous monarchs and past Royal visits, with collections staff on hand to talk to members of the public about the chosen items.
Local artists have once again been given the challenge of producing their work straight onto the Berni Gallery walls at the Jersey Arts Centre, this time in exploration of Jersey’s unique relationship with the Crown.
Each artist will have just 36 hours to create and complete their work in celebration of the Queen’s jubilee. After the exhibition finishes on Saturday 18 June, the gallery walls will be repainted, covering up the work forever.
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Marking the Queen's lifelong love affair with pearls, Jersey Pearl has created an exhibition of replica pearl necklaces that HM Elizabeth II has worn over the decades.
It's free to discover the collection at Jersey Pearl in St. Ouen, and everyone is invited to try them on!
Visitors to the exhibition are also invited to take a snap in the 'Betty Booth' and post it on social media to be in with a chance to win a £10 online voucher code.
Islanders have until Sunday 5 June to enjoy it or they can follow Jersey Pearl's stories about the Queen's pearl love on Instagram.
A number of commemorative items will be offered as part of the Jubilee celebrations, including a photobook capturing a cross-section snapshot of Jersey under Her Majesty the Queen, and commemorative coins and stamps.
The Parish of St Brelade have also commissioned Parish pin badges to mark the occasion, available from the Parish hall.
Team members at Beresford Street Kitchen have also designed a range of Queen’s Jubilee mugs, available to buy online and in their cafes.
As part of the jubilee celebrations, Family Nursing and Home Care (FNHC) is inviting children to decorate a crown fit for royalty in the charity's 'Design your Crown' competition. FNHC has created a crown template, available to download from their website, for children to print, cut out and decorate. To enter the competition, post a photo of your child's decorated crown on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn with the hashtag #FNHCcrown.
The winner will have their design professionally created and will be asked to launch the FNHC Colour Festival at the start line on 25 June, all whilst wearing their crown.
The winning crown will then be sent to Her Majesty the Queen on behalf of FNHC, which can trace its roots back to the Royal College of Nursing.
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