YORK will be celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in style - with street parties, beacon lighting and a 'big Jubilee lunch' among the events being planned.

Many of the events will be held during the extended Platinum Jubilee bank holiday from Thursday June 2 to Sunday June 5.

But street parties will take a lot of organising.

So today, on 70th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne, City of York Council has launched a dedicated web page - york.gov.uk/YorkCelebratesJubilee - aimed at making it easier for York people to organise a street party.

There will be no charge for closing the road for any Jubilee street parties organised by local communities - and (on payment of a deposit) you'll even be able to borrow 'road closed' signs from the council depot.

You won't even need a licence - unless the party includes the sale of alcohol.

But you will need to apply to the council well in advance.

The council's new dedicated website includes links to the form you will need to fill in, as well as providing advice on naming events, using social media, and sharing national and local resources.

It also highlights what will be going on in York throughout the Jubilee celebrations, with events expected to include street parties, a ‘Big Jubilee Lunch’, beacon lightings, a wealth of city centre events with flags and bunting, a Minster afternoon tea party and a York CVS procession.

Council leader Keith Aspden said: “We know many of our residents will want to mark this historic anniversary and celebrate Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s remarkable seventy-year reign over the four days of the jubilee.

“This is the first time any British monarch has celebrated a platinum jubilee and given York’s long and proud association with the Queen, we want to make it easy for local residents, businesses and communities to organise a street party and celebrate Her Majesty’s incredible record of public service.

“With a great deal going on in York, our newly launched webpage will highlight all the exciting events taking place, from commemorative tree planting as a Champion City for the Queen’s Green Canopy to being part of the beacon lighting, as well as provide communities with guidance to organise a street party of your own.”

As The Press reported yesterday, York Minster will today be dedicating all its services - which are open to all - to honouring the 70th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne on February 6, 1952.

York Minster bell ringers will also ring a quarter peal to mark Accession Day between 2.40pm and 3.45pm, just ahead of Evensong.

And the Acting Dean of York, the Rev Canon Michael Smith, will plant a young lime tree in the public park being created next to the new Minster Refectory, as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy Platinum Jubilee Celebrations. That will take place at about 12.30pm.

Services at York Minster today dedicated to the Queen's 70 years as monarch are:

  • Choral Matins at 10am - to include music by Richard Shephard, Benjamin Britten and Henry Loosemore. The service will conclude with State Prayers for the Queen and the Royal Family
  • Choral Eucharist at 11am - which will 'recall the Accession of Her Majesty the Queen'. The sermon will be given by the Right Revd Richard Frith, former Bishop of Hereford.
  • Evensong at 4pm - The service will include the ‘Accession Responses’ by Francis Jackson, Herbert Howells ‘Evening Service in G’ and ‘I was glad’ by Hubert Parry, the anthem sung at the Coronation Service in 1953. The Organ Voluntary will be William Walton’s ‘Orb and Sceptre’ and the service will include the singing of ‘Praise my Soul the King of Heaven’ – one of the Queen’s favourite hymns.

The Lord Mayor of York Cllr Chris Cullwick, who will be attending evensong, said: "This anniversary of the death of HM King George VI marks the beginning of a special year in which the nation can celebrate HM Queen Elizabeth’s seven decades as monarch.

"We are grateful for her life of dedication and faithful service which is an example to us all."