A SPECTACULAR Hampshire Festival of Remembrance is to take place to commemorate the part the county has played in all conflicts since and including World War One.

Organised by The Royal British Legion, and featuring the south’s top military musicians, the festival will pay tribute to armed forces past and present, and their families.

There will be an array of entertainment, with music spanning the past hundred years. The event also includes the traditional Act of Remembrance, during which poppy petals will fall.

The festival takes place at Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre on Sunday, November 1 at 7pm.

Sally Taylor from BBC South Today will act as compere for the event, which will be held in the presence of Her Serene Highness, Princess Sophie Von Hohenberg, greatgranddaughter of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Countess Sophia who were assassinated at the beginning of the Great War.

Princess Sophie will give a reading as part of the commemorations.

The entertainment includes The Band & Bugles of the Rifles, The Band of the Adjutant General’s Corps and The Band of the Queen’s Division. One of the items in the programme of music is a Gaelic song Nam Anna Le Mo Smaointe, which translates as ‘Alone with My Thoughts’.

The song, in memory of Royal Marine Gordon MacPherson, who was killed during the battle for Two Sisters on Falklands in 1982, was written by family friends Erik Spence and the Rev John MacLeod.

RBL community fundraiser for South Hampshire and The Isle of Wight Clare Peppiatt said: “We hope this festival will again be second only to the event at the Royal Albert Hall. It promises to be spectacular.”

For details call the box office 02380 711811 or visit: mayflower.org.uk