Remembrance Sunday 2026: Cenotaph Timings for 8 November and the Festival of Remembrance

The National Service of Remembrance is on Sunday 8 November 2026 at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, London, starting at 11am with the national two-minute silence, according to GOV.UK guidance from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), published 8 October 2026. Times here are UK time, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), since UK clocks went back on 25 October. US clocks fall back on Sunday 1 November, so US Eastern Time (ET) is 5 hours behind: 11am GMT on Sunday 8 November is 6am ET.

The Royal British Legion’s Festival of Remembrance comes the evening before, on Saturday 7 November at the Royal Albert Hall. The table below puts both events, plus Armistice Day, on one timetable, and the download box has a one-page printable version.

Remembrance weekend 2026 timetable

Day	Time (GMT)	Time (ET)	What happens	Source
Sat. 7 Nov.	2pm	9am	Festival of Remembrance, afternoon performance; due to finish by 3.45pm	Royal British Legion
Sat. 7 Nov.	7pm	2pm	Festival of Remembrance, evening performance; due to finish by 8.45pm	Royal British Legion
Sat. 7 Nov.	9pm	4pm	Festival of Remembrance on BBC One and BBC iPlayer	Royal British Legion
Sun. 8 Nov.	8am	3am	Whitehall opens to the public	GOV.UK
Sun. 8 Nov.	From 10:30am	From 5:30am	Detachments form up on the Cenotaph	GOV.UK
Sun. 8 Nov.	From 10:50am	From 5:50am	Participants process out onto the Cenotaph	GOV.UK
Sun. 8 Nov.	11am	6am	Two-minute silence; Cenotaph service starts	GOV.UK
Sun. 8 Nov.	11:25am	6:25am	Service concludes; Royal British Legion detachments disperse past the Cenotaph	GOV.UK
Wed. 11 Nov.			Armistice Day	Date only

What time is the two-minute silence at the Cenotaph?

GOV.UK says the national two-minute silence at 11am is “marked by the firing of guns from King’s Troop on Horse Guards Parade”, and that the Cenotaph service commences at that moment. Before it, all detachments form up on the Cenotaph from 10:30am and participants process out onto it from 10:50am. At 11:25am the service concludes and Royal British Legion detachments disperse past the Cenotaph.

GOV.UK’s page for 9 November 2025 carries the same schedule, so the order of the morning matches last year’s. The pages we checked do not give a time for the Last Post, Big Ben, the wreath-laying order or when the march past ends.

Do you need a ticket, and where can you stand?

No tickets or passes are needed, GOV.UK says, and the public can watch from the pavements along Whitehall and Parliament Street. Whitehall opens to the public at 8am, space will be limited and visitors should allow time to clear police security procedures. Entry may be limited if the area becomes full.

GOV.UK lists video screens at these points:

• North of the Cenotaph, near the Green in front of the Field Marshal Montgomery statue
• In the lay-by outside Dover House
• Near the junction of Whitehall Place
• South, on the corner of King Charles Street

An accessible viewing enclosure is on the west side of Parliament Street near King Charles Street. Places are first come, first served, with one carer or guest per person, and an accessible toilet is nearby.

Which roads close and what are the rules?

Great George Street will be closed to the public on Remembrance Sunday. Access between Victoria Street and St James’s Park is via Storey’s Gate, GOV.UK says.

The same page sets out the rules for visitors:

• Large bags are not allowed.
• Drones are prohibited.
• Photography is allowed, but not during the two-minute silence, and tripods may be removed.
• Temporary toilets are in Whitehall Place, and St John Ambulance provides first aid.

Organisations with questions about the march past can email cenotaph@britishlegion.org.uk, the address GOV.UK gives.

Festival of Remembrance 2026: times, BBC One and tickets

The Royal British Legion lists the 2026 Festival of Remembrance for Saturday 7 November at the Royal Albert Hall. The afternoon performance starts at 2pm and is scheduled to finish by 3.45pm; the evening performance starts at 7pm and is scheduled to finish by 8.45pm. The Legion says the festival will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday 7 November at 9pm, which is 4pm ET.

Tickets for both performances have sold out and will not be on sale to the general public, the Legion says. Its ballot terms page shows the ballot ran from 27 May to 24 June 2026.

Can you watch the Cenotaph service on television?

GOV.UK names the BBC, Sky and Independent Television (ITV) as the channels: “You can watch the event on television on the BBC, Sky and ITV.” The BBC had not published a start time for its Cenotaph coverage on the pages we checked, so a broadcast time is not given here. With the service starting at 11am GMT, US viewers would need an early start on Sunday: 6am ET.

When is Armistice Day 2026?

Armistice Day falls on Wednesday 11 November 2026. Our Remembrance Day 2026 story covers the silence on that day and the Canadian holiday rules by province. In the US the same date is Veterans Day; see when Veterans Day falls.

The days around it are busy in the capital: our Lord Mayor’s Show 2026 guide covers the procession on 14 November, and the national rules for 5 November are in our Bonfire Night 2026 story. Mark all of these on the November 2026 printable calendar.