Coventry Peace Festival

The Coventry Peace Festival returns from 2 to 14 November, with free events spread across the city. It's an annual thing run by Coventry City Council, and it's built around the city's long history as a 'City of Peace and Reconciliation' — a title Coventry has held since the Blitz 86 years ago. The whole programme is community-led, so it's local charities and organisations that step up each year to fill the calendar. It's designed as a space to reflect on peace, conflict and remembrance, and to think about the shared responsibility of building a peaceful future.

The Remembrance Sunday Service and Parade at War Memorial Park is a central part of it, on Sunday 8 November at 10.45am, followed by the Communal Grave Service at London Road Cemetery at 3pm. That feeds into the city's wider commemorations. There's also the Lord Mayor's Peace Lecture, presented by Dean Rev. John Witcombe and chaired by the Lord Mayor, Cllr Bailey. And a young oak tree is being planted, grown from a tree that survived the Battle of Arnhem. For those who can't make it in person, there's an online screening of the film It Takes a City.

Beyond those, the festival runs a broad mix of things: poetry sessions, outdoor storytelling, art and craft workshops, guided walks and a historical tour of Coventry Cathedral. It all closes on Saturday 14 November with Sense of Unity, an outdoor performance from 6pm to 7.10pm featuring giant illuminated puppetry, lighting and live drummers, which leads into a giant puppet parade through the city centre. The events are held at various venues across Coventry, including War Memorial Park, London Road Cemetery and the Priory Visitor Centre, and everything is free.