The City of Nanaimo will hold a memorial for the lives lost in the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
The Lanterns for Peace Ceremony is set for 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6 at Sway’ A’ Lana lagoon in Maffeo Sutton Park, with a lantern ceremony featuring the Japanese flute (shakuhachi) and harp, according to a press release.
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945 and, together with a bombing of Nagasaki three days later, led to the deaths of over 200,000 people.
RELATED: Nanaimo council votes to re-install nuclear-free signs
The Nanaimo event is open to people of all ages and everyone will be invited to help launch the lanterns at the ceremony at 9:30 p.m. The event is organized by Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s Nanaimo chapter.
Nanaimo council declared the city a ‘nuclear-free zone’ when it voted to prohibit the manufacturing and storage of nuclear weapons within city limits in 1987.