Portsmouth D-Day 80 Commemorations: Free tickets for city's poignant event snapped up in minutes

Around 6,000 public tickets were made available on a first come, first served basis for the separate day and night events on Wednesday, June 5 from Ticketmaster from 10am this morning (Thursday, May 9).

Although exact details of what to expect at the events have yet to be revealed, both will pay tribute to the extraordinary bravery and achievements of the D-Day veterans, and the incredible work on the home front that combined to make D-Day one of the most important days of the twentieth century.

Tickets for the daytime event - featuring recognisable famous faces, musical performances, readings, and testimonies - went within ten minutes. However, there are still some limited tickets available for the evening event from 8.30pm-10pm which will be a community vigil to fallen Allied soldiers who fought and died during D Day operations and include a live broadcast from Bayeux War Cemetery in France. There will also be live music performances and moving testimony from those who were there.

Many Portsmouth residents have been invited by the organisers to attend the event, including members of veterans’ organisations and local groups, as well as some local schoolchildren to help ensure that the baton of remembrance is passed down the generations.

Residents and visitors have been warned that without a ticket, there is no public vantage point for you to watch the events, although you will be able to watch live coverage of both events on BBC One and iPlayer as well as see the coverage by The News.

If you would like to be in the audience for the evening event, you can get a maximum of four tickets from www.ticketmaster.co.uk and will need a Ticketmaster UK account to access tickets, so you are advised to set one up beforehand. There is no minimum age to attend the events, however the lead ticket holder needs to be over 18-years-old. For more details go to www.ticketmaster.co.uk.