Kensington Remembrance Sunday 8 Nov: where and what time

Remembrance Sunday falls on Sunday 8 November 2026. In Kensington and Chelsea the council marks it with two Acts of Remembrance at the same time, one at the Kensington War Memorial outside St Mary Abbots and one at the Sloane Square War Memorial. For the past four years both have begun at 10.55am, ahead of the two minutes’ silence at 11am, and each has been followed by a church service.

The council has not yet published its 2026 arrangements. It puts out a short notice on its newsroom each year, between 1 and 4 November, so expect this year’s in the first days of November. Until it does, the details below are what the council published for each of the last four years, all still on its own site. We will update this page the day the 2026 notice appears.

Where the two ceremonies are

Both are open to anyone. The council’s notices invite residents to join the Mayor, councillors and civic leaders, serving and former members of the armed forces, cadets, the emergency services and community organisations.

Which memorial gets the Mayor: it alternates

One memorial hosts the borough’s principal Act of Remembrance, led by the Mayor, and the other a second one led by the Deputy Mayor. The council’s own notices show the two swapping every year:

Sources: Kensington and Chelsea Council notices for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. In 2025 the Mayor, Cllr Tom Bennett, led the ceremony at Kensington and the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Aarien Areti, the one at Sloane Square.

If the pattern holds, Sloane Square would host the principal ceremony in 2026. That is our reading of four years of notices, not an announcement, and both ceremonies have run at the same time every year either way.

What to expect on the day

In every year listed the Act of Remembrance started at 10.55am, and the council’s notices describe the same running order: the Act of Remembrance at the memorial, attended by the Mayor or Deputy Mayor, councillors, the armed forces, cadets, the emergency services and community groups, then a Service of Remembrance in the nearby church. The notices do not give an end time or say how long the church service runs.

Arrive early. Both memorials sit on busy corners: Kensington’s on the high street junction outside the church, Sloane Square’s in the middle of the square.

Road closures

None published yet. The council’s works and events bulletin of 1 October, which lists planned closures and special events into 2027, carries no Remembrance Sunday entry for either memorial (RBKC roadworks). We will add any closure if a later bulletin lists one. Our roadworks and travel page carries the current bulletin, and parking in Kensington sets out the borough’s charges.

High Street Kensington station is a short walk from the Kensington memorial, and Sloane Square station opens onto the square.

Armistice Day and other events that week

Armistice Day, 11 November, falls on a Wednesday this year. Two Remembrance-week events in the borough are already on sale:

• A Concert for Remembrance Day: Dona nobis pacem, Wednesday 11 November, 7.30pm, Cadogan Hall, £24.50 to £52.50 (Cadogan Hall).
• The Longest Yarn 2: Britain at War, an 80-metre knitted exhibition at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, 2 to 12 November, followed by a free First World War artefacts drop-in on Saturday 14 November (Royal Hospital Chelsea). Our Royal Hospital page has the full programme.

For everything else in the borough over the next six weeks, see What’s On in Kensington this month.