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Manchester Arena attack tribute in pictures and Tweets – one year on

A year since 22 people were tragically killed by a suicide bomber at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, we remember those lost on a day full of tributes.

The world will look on as Prime Minister Theresa May joins Duke of Cambridge Prince William at the Manchester Cathedral for the 2.30pm minute’s silence before thousands descend on Albert Square for the evening’s singalong. 

Programme of events on May 22

  • 8am to 11pm – Trees of Hope will have volunteers on hand to hand out message tags 
  • 2pm to 3pm – A public screening of the private memorial service at Manchester Cathedral in Cathedral gardens
  • 2.30pm – A national minute’s silence to mark the first anniversary 
  • 6pm –  Albert Square will open to the public 
  • 7.30-9pm – With One Voice at Albert Square 
  • Dusk – There is a Light at St Ann’s Square 
  • 10.31pm – Bells ring out across the city

With One Voice

The sun shone, the voices harmonised. A city stood united. A year on from the tragic attack that brought a city to a standstill, the public turned up in their thousands in Manchester’s Albert Square this evening to remember, reflect and rise in solidarity.

If the private memorial service and national minute’s silence that took place earlier in the day offered chance for individual reflection, the evening’s event was an opportunity for Mancunian families to stand shoulder to shoulder and show the world once again that it is a city unified by love.

Several minutes of applause broke out as poet Tony Walsh, who penned the poem This Is The Place, called for ‘a city united.’

The sense of solidarity reached its peak at 8:30, as the square sang together in a truly heart-warming and defiantly Manchester delivery of Don’t Look Back in Anger, evoking the spontaneous group singing of the song following last year’s minute’s silence in St Ann’s Square just after the attack.

A song about love was a fitting way to end the day. While there was sadness and remembrance for the victims, Manchester also showed that love would overcome hate and the city would be united by its response to the attack.

The unity was evident through Ariana Grande’s One Last Time, Elbow’s One Day Like This, climaxing with All You Need Is Love. 

The crowd swayed in unison, with policemen and security guards alike dancing on the side-lines. Even after the evening’s close, stragglers remained to sing choruses of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now, as the sun began to set over the square.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Embed from Getty Images

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reminder of the crowd that assembled last year to watch poet Tony Walsh’s ‘This Is The Place’ being read aloud.

 

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Image courtesy of GMP Hazel Grove via Twitter, with thanks.

 

 

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