CANDLES will float down the River Avon in Salisbury next month to mark the 80th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Salisbury Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is staging this moving spectacle at 8.45pm on August 6 to mark the occasion, which is expected to draw large crowds.
The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Candle Float will remember those victims of the nuclear bombs dropped in 1945 and all others harmed by nuclear development and testing.
The 200 lanterns that travel down the river are joined by several paper lanterns decorated by schoolchildren in Hiroshima, and all will be collected at the end of the float.
A Salisbury Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament spokesperson said: “The current wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have brought nuclear weapons to centre stage, alarming all nations around the world.
READ MORE: Tailored SEND support to launch at two schools near Salisbury
READ MORE: Call 999 immediately if you see this man
“Israel’s recent attack on Iran adds to its disastrous genocide in Gaza, further destabilising a hostile region, and the possible use of its nuclear arsenal by Israel.
“The United States is intending to bring nuclear weapons back to RAF/USAF Lakenheath which will make the UK a prime target for Russian attack.
“The possibility of a nuclear exchange is putting the whole world at risk of annihilation, as all theoretical scenarios where nuclear use begins end in all-out nuclear war.
“Wars cannot be fought or won with nuclear weapons, so they must never be used.
“This cannot be guaranteed while there are leaders announcing they could resort to using them regardless of the consequences, thus ending the myth of deterrence.
Salisbury became a member of Mayors for Peace in 2022, which aims to create momentum for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons.
more rubbish in our beautiful and fragile chalk river -go and pray , plant a tree -but stop messing up our river
So sad that someone could trivialize the Hiroshima memorial Candle Float as Ms Pankhurst’s comment did! The Float event represents our quiet unpolitical care for the memory of thousands of real people, like us, and the pain, loss and grief they suffered from a war crime for which Britain shares responsibility. Please remember the images we have all seen of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and now look out of your window and imagine that devastation here in Salisbury now! The danger ois real, in the present time! Be aware!!
Please note that we clear the river of debris beforehand and we catch every candle, we count them out and count then in.