Lichfield's parade leaves the Guildhall at 9.40am for a 10am Cathedral service. At Alrewas the Arboretum service starts 10.40am and parking must be booked.

Remembrance Sunday 2026 falls on Sunday 8 November, and Lichfield district holds two very different events that morning: a city parade and Cathedral service in Lichfield, and the national service at the Arboretum eight miles away in Alrewas. Armistice Day follows on Wednesday 11 November, and the ticket application for that one closes on 27 September.

Lichfield city, Sunday 8 November

Lichfield City Council’s event record gives the morning as 9.30am to 11.30am, starting at the Guildhall on Bore Street, WS13 6LU, with this running order:

  • 09:40 the parade leaves the Guildhall
  • 10:00 service at Lichfield Cathedral
  • 10:50 act of remembrance at the Garden of Remembrance

The district council’s 2026 events calendar lists a Remembrance Sunday ceremony on the same date. Enquiries go to the city council on 01543 250011.

Two things are not published yet. The council has not set out the parade route, and there was no road closure order for the city centre on the Public Notice Portal when we checked on 5 September. Closure orders for this kind of event tend to appear in late October. When one is made we will add it here and to our roadworks and travel page.

Burntwood Town Council’s published calendar carries no Remembrance event for 2026 as of 5 September.

The Arboretum at Alrewas, Sunday 8 November

The National Memorial Arboretum, Croxall Road, Alrewas, DE13 7AR, holds the national Remembrance Sunday service at the base of the Armed Forces Memorial. It is free to attend, and the Arboretum expects thousands of people.

From the Arboretum’s own event page:

  • The Remembrance Centre and grounds open at 8am
  • The service begins from 10.40am. The Arboretum recommends arriving by 10am
  • The service is relayed on a large screen in Heroes’ Square for anyone who would rather stay out of the crowd
  • The Armed Forces Memorial is closed to the public until the service ends
  • The service goes ahead in bad weather. It is an outdoor site

Parking is the thing to sort now

Entry is free but parking is not, and it is the bottleneck. The Arboretum “strongly recommends” booking a space in advance because only limited spaces are available and they can fill up. Anyone holding a pre-booked space in the 8am, 9am or 10am slots is admitted in time for the service. Have the booking confirmation ready on a phone or on paper at the car park, and arrive inside the slot you booked.

Blue badge holders get Car Park A, next to the Remembrance Centre, bookable as an accessible parking ticket, and there is a pick-up and drop-off point close to the Remembrance Centre. The Arboretum has a small number of manual wheelchairs, available by donation, and motorised scooters at £10 a day; both are booked in advance on 01283 245 100.

Wreaths, standards and what does not happen

Wreaths and tributes may be laid after the service, once the Armed Forces Memorial reopens, or at any other memorial across the site during the day. The Arboretum sells poppy tributes in the Remembrance Centre and takes wreath orders by phone on 01283 245 100 at £20 plain or £23.50 personalised, for collection on the day.

Three things do not happen on 8 November. There is no parade on site. The service is not live-streamed, so the Heroes’ Square screen is the only remote option. And the usual 11am Daily Act of Remembrance in the Millennium Chapel is cancelled for the day because of the larger outdoor service. The Arboretum is also not accepting any additional standards beyond those already in the official running order.

Armistice Day, Wednesday 11 November: apply by 27 September

The Arboretum holds a second service on the Armed Forces Memorial on Wednesday 11 November, and this one is ticketed because the memorial itself has limited capacity.

From the Armistice Day page:

  • Tickets to watch from the memorial are by application form, which opened on 1 September 2026
  • The application window closes on Sunday 27 September
  • A maximum of four tickets per person (applicant plus three guests), plus any additional carers, on a first-come-first-served basis. One entry per household, and incomplete entries are discounted
  • Applicants are told the outcome from Monday 5 October
  • Successful applicants show a ticket confirmation letter and should be able to produce photo ID at the registration desk if asked

Without a service ticket you can still come. The Arboretum opens at 9am and the service is shown on the big screen in Heroes’ Square, where the advice is to be seated by 10.30am. Parking has to be booked either way, including by ticket holders.

Getting there

The Arboretum is a 15-minute drive from Lichfield city centre, off the A38 at Alrewas. If you are travelling into Lichfield for the city parade instead, both stations are a short walk from Bore Street and the Cathedral; our Lichfield train times page has the service pattern, and parking in Lichfield has the car parks and the Sunday charging rule that catches people out.

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