What is a “Jubilee”?
“Jubilee” is another word for “anniversary”. “Anniversary” can be used when celebrating something that happened one, two, three, four years ago and so on, but “jubilee” is normally only used when celebrating something that happened 25, 40, 50, 60 or 70 years ago.
So, we can say that a jubilee is a celebration of a particular anniversary of a significant event.
Names are given to different jubilees:
- 25 years – silver jubilee
- 40 years – ruby jubilee
- 50 years – golden jubilee
- 60 years – diamond jubilee
- 70 years – platinum jubilee
In 2022 the United Kingdom is celebrating the platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
She is the first monarch (that is, king or queen) of the UK to have a platinum jubilee. She became queen on 6 February 1952. The jubilee celebrations weren’t held in February 2022, partly because it was the seventieth anniversary of the death of King George VI (Elizabeth’s father) and partly because summer is a better time than winter to hold outdoor events
Instead, the Platinum Jubilee will be celebrated at the beginning of June, with four days of special events, both in the UK and in the 14 other countries of which Elizabeth is queen. These countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
Thursday June 2 will be a “bank holiday”, which means that most people will not have to go to work that day. In London there will be a military parade, called the “Trooping of the Colour”. Later, members of the royal family will appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to wave to the crowds and watch a “flypast” of aircraft. In the evening a “beacon” will be lit at Buckingham Palace. A total of around 3,000 beacons will then be lit across the UK and the Commonwealth (an association of 54 countries, almost all of which were previously part of the British Empire).
Friday June 3 will be another bank holiday. In the morning, the royal family will attend a “service of thanksgiving” in St Paul’s Cathedral. Later they will go to a banquet hosted by the Lord Mayor of London.
On Saturday June 4 there will be an open-air concert in front of Buckingham Palace. Artists taking part will include Queen (the rock band, not Queen Elizabeth!), Alicia Keys, Elton John, Rod Stewart, George Ezra, Diana Ross, and the Royal Ballet. There will also be performances by the casts of musicals such as Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and The Lion King. Many other celebrities will be appearing, including Sir David Attenborough, Emma Raducanu, David Beckham and Stephen Fry. The concert will be attended by many thousands of people and will be broadcast live on BBC television and radio.
On Sunday June 5 there will be a carnival parade in London. There will be around 16,000 “street parties” in the UK. These have been organised by local people who have been given permission to close their streets for the parties so that they won’t be interrupted by traffic.
The celebrations will end on the Sunday evening with a performance by Ed Sheeran in front of Buckingham Palace.
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“Jubilation” is a noun related to jubilee. It means a feeling of great happiness – particularly because of a success.
Examples:
- There was great jubilation across the city when Real Madrid won the Champions’ League Final.
- There will be great jubilation when people hear the news.
“Jubilant” is an adjective and “jubilantly” is an adverb; both are linked to “jubilation”.
Examples:
- He was jubilant when he was offered the job.
- The crowd responded jubilantly when Liverpool scored a goal.
