A concise and engaging program of community and commemorative events is what will greet anyone attending the Cowra Prisoner of War Breakout 80th Anniversary commemorations to be held on Sunday and Monday, August 4 and 5.
The official program of events begins at 8am on Sunday, August 4 with St Raphael's Catholic Church extending an invitation to everyone to join a special Sunday morning service.
Special guest at the service will be Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC Governor of NSW who will be the guest of honour at most of the 80th anniversary activities.
A Peace Bell Ceremony at 3.30pm marks the start of several linked events.
After speeches and a ceremonial ringing of the World Peace Bell in Darling Street, lone runner Laura Price will carry a lantern from there to the Japanese Garden car park.
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The car park is the starting point of a Lantern Parade that will travel along Sakura Avenue to the POW Camp Site.
A giant crane, a symbol of hope and peace, will lead a parade of 239 lanterns, each one representing a life lost during the tragic Cowra Breakout.
To register for a lantern please contact: ryansclan@bigpond.com.
Following placing of the lanterns, a community event will take place at 5pm at the site of the Cowra POW Breakout.
With a theme of peace and unity, activities will include a performance by the cast of the new musical 'Intertwined' as well as Japanese soprano Atsuko Arai who will perform with some Cowra school students.
There will be a special peace poem and a summary of the POW Breakout story and its legacy of peace, reconciliation and international understanding.
The official Mayoral Dinner will be held at the Cowra Showground pavilion with special guest and keynote speaker Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC Governor of NSW.
Tickets for the dinner are available online at breakoutmayoraldinner.eventbrite.com.au.
At 1.30am on Monday, August 5 a Commemorative Event will be held at the POW Camp site.
Compered by filmmaker and TV presenter Greg Grainger the event will focus on the story of the Cowra Breakout and its historical significance.
Attendees will have the chance to contemplate the profound human cost and how this tragedy paved the way for ongoing reconciliation between Australia and Japan.
Events culminate with wreath laying ceremonies in both the Australian and Japanese War Cemeteries commencing at 9.30am, featuring the Australian Federation Guard and a quintet from the band of the Royal Military College Duntroon.
Wreath laying by dignitaries, community members and organisations will commence in the Australian War Cemetery.
At 10am a flyover by an RAAF F-35A Fighter will take place playing tribute to the current partnership by the RAAF and Japan Air Self-Defence's first international deployment of F-35As.
Participants, dignitaries and members of the public will move to the Japanese Cemetery where wreath laying will continue, followed by both Buddhist and Shinto Ceremonies.
Cowra Visitors' Centre Historical Display - July 29 to August 10, featuring images and artefacts form the Cowra Prisoner of War Camp. Open daily 9am to 5pm.
Capturing the Home Front - A touring exhibition from the Australian National Maritime Museum that focusses on life at home during WWII.
Featuring photographs by American photojournalist, Dorothea Lange, and Australian photographers, Samuel Hood, William Cranstone, Hedley Keith Cullen and Jim Fitzpatrick. Also on display will be a selection of significant items relevant to the Cowra POW Breakout.
On Saturday, August 3, Club Cowra will host Cowra Remembers Dance - A 1940s Perspective. Commencing at 6.30pm the event features a live band, free entry and dancing with prizes for the best dressed.
From 10am to 3pm Cowra's Lachlan Valley Railway Society will be running heritage rail journeys from Cowra railway station to the eastern bank of the Lachlan River.
Booking aren't necessary and intending passengers can purchase their tickets at Cowra railway station on the day.
As a mark of the significance of the Cowra Breakout 80th Anniversary, entry to the Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre will be free to all on Monday, August 5.
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