This is not a drill – a new four-day bank holiday weekend has been confirmed for 2022, with lots of celebrations to take place.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that bank holidays are the best days of the year – they’re right up there with Christmas and Pancake Day. There’s nothing quite like a long weekend to put you in a good mood, and we’re getting an extra one soon! In honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, there’ll be a four-day bank holiday celebration in 2022, along with a line-up of celebrations and public events. I can truly think of no greater way to commemorate a 70-year reign than having two extra days off work…
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Though February 6 will mark the Queen’s 70th anniversary, the official celebrations will take place in the summer. To accommodate for the four-day weekend, the May Spring Bank Holiday will be moved to Thursday, June 2, when the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will commence. The day off on Friday, June 3, however, has been specially created for the event and the celebration will conclude on Sunday, June 5. While the long weekend is all about the Queen, a Platinum medal will also be awarded to those in the Armed Forces and other public services.
The Queen has been on the throne since 1952, and is set to become the first British monarch to reign for seven decades! Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden is already planning a number of epic events and performances to mark the occasion, some of which have just been confirmed by The Royal Family:
Next year’s #PlatinumJubilee celebrations will include:
💂♀️ Trooping the Colour.
🔥 Lighting of Platinum Jubilee Beacons.
⛪️ Service of Thanksgiving @StPaulsLondon.
🎸A live concert ‘Platinum Party at the Palace’.
🍰 The Big Jubilee Lunch.
🎭 The Platinum Jubilee Pageant. pic.twitter.com/jUcVON0uOf— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) June 2, 2021
For context, the 2012 celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee resulted in a river-side concert starring Sir Elton John, Stevie Wonder, and Sir Paul McCartney. The plans for next year are looking even more elaborate, with the first Trooping the Colour since Prince Philip’s death, a beacon lighting ceremony, a thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral, a live concert at Buckingham Palace titled ‘Platinum Party at the Palace’, a Platinum Jubilee pageant, as well as a celebratory lunch, all on the agenda.
And these are just a few of the events planned for the long weekend, with more community activities to take place, such as national moments of reflection in honour of the Queen’s 70 years of service. According to Buckingham Palace, the Queen wants as many people celebrating the momentous occasion on the grounds as possible. You don’t have to ask us twice, Lizzie.
Dowden said “Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee will be a truly historic moment – and one that deserves a celebration to remember. We can all look forward to a special, four-day Jubilee weekend, when we will put on a spectacular, once-in-a-generation show that mixes the best of British ceremonial splendour with cutting edge art and technology.” We’re already counting down the days.