Giant screens will be erected at 30 locations across the UK for the public to watch the “magical moment” when King Charles III is crowned monarch, the government has announced.
Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester, Jubilee Square in Brighton, Cardiff Castle and Derby Cathedral are among the confirmed sites which will host live streaming of the historic event for tens of thousands of people.
London will host a screening but the exact location has yet to be revealed.
In total, the project run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was allocated £1 million ($1.2 million) in funding from central government.
Millions more people across Britain and the world are expected to tune in at home to watch the event on May 6.
It will be 70 years since the British public last had the chance to watch a coronation. Queen Elizabeth II’s crowning ceremony in June 1953 was watched by some households on black-and-white televisions. Others, who did not have access to a TV, celebrated the occasion with street parties.
The coronation will also see King Charles's wife Camilla crowned Queen Consort.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said the erection of screens at public places will bring people together for an unforgettable day.
“The coronation will be a magical moment that brings people together to celebrate the best of Britain over a special weekend in May,” she said.
“These big screens, in major locations in towns and cities in the four nations of the UK, will make it easier for everyone to take part and have a memorable experience to mark this exciting and historic event.”
Community festivals will be held in villages, towns and city suburbs to mark the coronation, with entertainment including live music, workshops, art showcases and creative games.
Windsor Castle in Berkshire will host a coronation concert the day after the coronation, with thousands of members of the public in the audience.
Well known locations across the UK will be lit up using projections, lasers, drone displays and illuminations to celebrate Britain’s first male monarch in 71 years.
Coronation “Big Lunches” and other street parties will also be held in communities to raise money for charity. The gatherings held last summer for the queen’s platinum jubilee raised more than £22 million for good causes.
Thirty locations for the screens were announced on Friday, with more to follow in due course.
South-East
· Jubilee Square, Brighton
· London (location TBC)
North-West
· Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester
· Parliament Square, Oldham
North-East
· Sunderland (multiple locations across the city TBC)
· Newcastle Upon Tyne (Location TBC)
· Northumberland (Location TBC)
· Darlington Market Square, Darlington
Yorkshire and Humber
· City Hall, Hull
· Trinity Market, Hull
· City Park, Bradford
· Piece Hall, Halifax
· St Peter’s Parish Church, Huddersfield
· Dewsbury Library, Dewsbury
· Millennium Square, Leeds
· Pontefract Castle, Wakefield
· Peace Gardens, Sheffield
· The Glass Works, Barnsley
South West
· Bristol Cathedral, Bristol
· Bristol and Bath Science Park, Bristol
· Lower Gardens, Bournemouth
· Baiter Park, Poole
· The Quomps, Christchurch
· Plymouth (location TBC)
Midlands
· Centenary Square, Birmingham
· Broadgate, Coventry
· Himley Hall, Dudley
· Sandwell Valley Showground, Sandwell
· The Core, Solihull
· Derby Cathedral, Derby
· Smithfield, Hanley City Centre, Stoke-on-Trent
· Nottingham (location TBC)
· De Montfort University, Leicester
Wales
· Cardiff Castle, Cardiff
Scotland
· Location TBC
Northern Ireland
· Belfast City Hall, Belfast
