Durham Cathedral has announced details of its plans to mark Remembrance Sunday.

This year, the cathedral will commemorate Remembrance Weekend with the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday, November 9, and a Remembrance Sunday Service on November 10.

Now in its 13th year, the Festival of Remembrance is held in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund. It serves to honour those who have died for their country, and service personnel who risk their lives for our freedom today.

The Very Reverend Dr Philip Plyming, Dean of Durham, said: "The events around Remembrance Sunday are a very important part of our life as Durham Cathedral.

"They give us the chance to honour those who have died in the service of their country and also pray for those who serve today and who work for peace in our troubled world."

This year, the festival will also mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Arnhem, in remembrance of those who contributed to the liberation of Europe 80 years ago.

(Image: Durham Cathedral)

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A festival concert is set to focus on the road to D-Day, with a mix of military music, 1940s songs, and spoken word.

The event will culminate in a muster and act of remembrance, during which thousands of poppies will fall silently inside the cathedral from the central tower.

Lieutenant Colonel Barney Barnbrook, regional director of the Army Benevolent Fund, said: "Whilst it is a great responsibility to organise the Festival of Remembrance at Durham Cathedral each year, it is also a huge privilege.

"As a region and as a country we have a duty to remember those who have given their all in defence of our nation, and the events in Durham over the Remembrance Weekend allow the local communities an appropriate and fitting way to commemorate such great sacrifice."

The following day, Durham Cathedral's Remembrance Sunday Service will begin at 10.15am to remember the lives of those who were killed in the line of duty and those who risk their lives today.