What’s all this about VE Day?

[DramaDromedary]

Ok, it’s the 75th anniversary. I watched the queen and she was lovely, very peaceful and calming. But then I see that Boris Johnson said the following: “We can't hold the parades and street celebrations we enjoyed in the past, but all of us who were born since 1945 are acutely conscious that we owe everything we most value to the generation who won the Second World War."

WHAT parades and street celebrations?? I’m over 40, and I have literally never seen or heard of a VE Day street party. On the 70th anniversary I was living in a place where children dress in white and dance around a maypole on May Day FFS, and even there, no street party, no parade.

AIBU? Has everyone else in the UK been wildly celebrating all these years, or is BJ (as I suspect) trying to persuade us that we’ve always been doing this because he leads a government with nothing to offer but jingoistic bullshit?

I think communities where people know their neighbours do it more. I do remember some but never took part in any. They definitely did happen in the past at various points, even if not the recent past.

TBH, I think there are worse things than bringing back the street party.

I'd assume he meant like 75 years ago

This neighbourhood has not celebrated VE day once in the ten uears I've been here.

Full blown street party happening now...

The only time I remember anything particularly significant is on special anniversaries e.g. 50th in 1995.

As we are starting lose more and more of the generation most affected, there's a slight feeling of commemorating whilst events are still within living memory.

It depends on your neighbourhood.

There's not been too much in the way of street parties/celebrations around here for the last 10 years but before that, every ward in the borough had its own Neighbourhood Watch and they were often organised through them, or residents associations.

But certainly when my kids were little (they're adults/teen now) they went to quite a few celebrations held on the local amenity greens/Labour halls.

Street parties are great. We had one for the jubilee (I think). No disagreement there. It’s the whole WW2 thing that gets to me. People/governments talk about it a lot when they’ve got nothing else about them. I find it worrying.

It’s not always a big deal.
They wanted to make it a big celebration this year as it was 75 years.
That’s why the bank holiday was moved to the Friday.

Does anyone remember a celebration for 70 years? That was also a big anniversary...

Drama - I think he's referring to the 25th and 50th anniversary celebrations, big celebrations usually happen every 25 years.

Massive street parties in 1995. The celebrations were huge.

This is amazing. It’s like a whole thing has passed me by. I was at school in 1995 and I have absolutely no recollection of any celebration. And my school went large on those kinds of things.

I've heard it's partly a patriotic Brexit thing but it doesn't really make sense as it's a big thing in parts of Europe... places like France that were occupied... it's been a holiday here for as long as I can remember and we get Labour Day as well!

It’s nothing to do with Brexit. I’ve loved today. It’s been intensely moving to see my parents’ generation honoured. I’m also beyond angry that my European citizenship is being ripped away from me.