An Evening at Brookwood 2024: The most magical event to date

On Friday 17 May 2024, we hosted another fantastic edition of our An Evening at Brookwood musical evening at Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey.

Image: The D-Day Darlings, one of the highlights of An Evening at Brookwood 2024

This year’s season saw an incredible 500 or so families join us and some very special guests and performers at what was possibly the best Evening at Brookwood to date.

This was the largest An Evening at Brookwood audience to date! A huge thank you to everyone who joined us this year. All the proceeds from the musical evening will go towards our core mission: keeping alive the stories of the dead of the World Wars.

The weather stayed glorious as Brookwood, the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the UK, came alive with colour and greenery, thanks to the sterling work of CWGC horticultural teams.

Image: The young performers from Pirbright Village Primary School

After introductions, guests were treated to the first performance of the evening with a specially curated performance from the children of Pirbright Village Primary School.

Image: Crowd-favourite Colin Thackery salutes the crowd

Next up we were enthralled by a performance by Britain’s Got Talent Winner, Veteran, and world’s oldest recording artist Colin Thackery. Colin was certainly a favourite with the crowd, who were enraptured by the Chelsea pensioner’s songs and stories.

Both the young and old helped begin this year’s event before the programme moved on to 2024’s centrepiece: The Lighting Their Legacy Torch Ceremony.

Image: The Torch of Commemoration

In the build-up to D-Day’s 80th Anniversary, Lighting Their Legacy sees the Torch of Commemoration pass from one generation to the next, building connections between veterans and young people to bring people together to pass on their incredible legacy.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Director General Claire Horton and Commonwealth War Graves Foundation Director Michelle Jennings gave speeches at the event, highlighting the need to forge deeper bonds of shared remembrance and commemoration between generations.

Image: The D-Day Darlings wow the rapturous Brookwood crowd

Following the Lighting Their Legacy ceremony, we were delighted to be dazzled by a trio of the D-Day Darlings: Britain’s Premier War Time act.

With a mixture of some of the nation’s favourite 1940s songs, their incredible performance crowned a beautiful evening of magic and music.

The Gordon’s Schools Pipes and Drums played us out towards the end of the evening which was brought to a close with a beautiful rendition of The Last Post by three buglers.

Image: The Gordon's School Pipes & Drums

Laura Stoker, Commonwealth War Graves Foundation Director of Fundraising said: “An Evening at Brookwood is the highlight in our spring calendar. 

“An Evening at Brookwood is definitely the highlight in our spring calendar. 

“We’d like to thank all of our amazing performers and special guests who helped make 2024’s event one of the best ever, as well as all our incredible staff and volunteers who made this night such a special one.

“Each ticket and donation helps us keep alive the stories of those commemorated at Brookwood as well as all 1.7 million casualties in our care. 

“We are so grateful to everyone who joined us at An Evening at Brookwood 2024 to support the important work of the Foundation.”

The Commonwealth War Graves Foundation would also like to say a massive thank you to our sponsors Venson Automotive Solutions and Albion Stone for their support. 

Thanks also to Crepes4Events, The Coffee Can Company and Pollys Parlour for supplying refreshments on the night!

Please visit our Events page to learn about our upcoming events; we hope to see you there!