Remembrance Day ceremonies to be streamed online as cities ask people to stay home

People are being asked to commemorate Remembrance Day at home on Nov. 11 as COVID-19 cases across the province continue to rise.

The City of Vancouver will host a modified version of the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at Victory Square, which will be live-streamed.

The square will be closed to the public, and there will be no parade or screens for viewing the ceremony at the site.

A limited number of official wreaths will be placed, and members of the public are being told not to gather after the ceremony to place their poppy on the cenotaph.

The annual Remembrance Day ceremony at Victory Square honours Canada's veterans, and this year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The service is organized by the Vancouver Remembrance Day Committee, a volunteer group established by the city in 1946.

The City of Surrey will also live stream its Remembrance Day event on Facebook. The Cloverdale cenotaph will be closed to the public.

The Surrey City Orchestra has brought together 32 musicians and service members to produce a Remembrance Day ceremony available online that can be viewed on or before Nov. 11.

The 45-minute ceremony combines a string orchestra, concert band, bagpiper, readings and a jazz band and weaves archival footage and video throughout the performance. 

The full performance is available at surreycityorchestra.org

Victoria viewing

Vancouver Island residents are also being encouraged to stay home and watch a special ceremony from the provincial capital that will be broadcast on Victoria's CHEK TV.

Angus Stanfield, chairman of the Victoria Remembrance Day Committee Poppy Fund, told CBC's All Points West he feels strongly that a ceremony take place to honour those who served the country but that it be done without the usual crowd of onlookers.

In past years, the event has been attended by up to 10,000 people.

This year, the ceremony will be held as usual at the cenotaph in Victoria's inner harbour, where only a handful of dignitaries will lay wreaths and and observe two minutes of silence. 

"People don't have to feel left out, they can still be part of it but do it in the safety of your own home for the sake of everybody," said Stanfield.

He also encouraged people to wear a poppy to show their support and to check out the Royal Canadian Legion's digital poppy campaign where people can honour veterans by dedicating a virtual poppy in memory of their name.

In Esquimalt, the ceremony at Esquimalt Memorial Park will be closed to the public, who can watch that event on CHEK TV as well, according to event MC and local legion manager Doug Grant.

Almost 40 wreaths will be laid in Esquimalt with minimum personnel present and only one bugler and one piper in attendance.

"We are still very proud to be able to have the opportunity to recognize our veterans on this special day," said Grant.

Prince George: Livestream and poppies in windows

In Prince George, the Remembrance Day ceremony hosted by Legion Branch 43 at the cenotaph outside city hall will be closed to the public but will be livestreamed via the branch's Facebook page, YouTube and broadcast on CKPG TV. 

Margaret Goings, president of Branch 43, is also encouraging people to mark two minutes of silence by standing at the end of their driveways at 11 a.m.

People who want to lay a wreath or poppy at the cenotaph are asked to do so between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., while wearing a mask and following physical distancing guidelines, and the Legion will be open to a limited number of visitors from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Additionally, Bailey Grose, the Prince George woman who organized a campaign to put homemade hearts in windows to show support for front-line workers during COVID-19, is now encouraging people to create homemade poppies to display.

"I have quite a few family members in my history who have fought in the wars," she said. "Poppies in the window is a great opportunity to show the front-line veterans our support since we cannot attend Remembrance Day services."