Plans to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day with street parties, school wartime parties and through theatre have been shelved due to coronavirus .

Instead, today - which has been made a bank holiday this year to mark the occasion - residents are being encouraged to commemorate the anniversary from the comfort of their homes.

Culture Vannin, the Department of Education, Sport and Culture and Manx National Heritage are calling on households to have a ’stay at home garden party’, with a 3pm national toast to raise a glass in memory of all those who served for their country then and now.

Jo Callister, curriculum advisor for the Department of Education, Sport and Culture, said: ’Everyone has the chance to organise something really special to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

’It’s a unique chance to come together in peace and common friendship.

’Although we can’t do that all in one place, we can definitely all celebrate from a safe distance.’

A ’VE Day Toolkit’ has been put together to help people plan their party - and it is hoped that it will be a useful resource for parents who are home schooling at the moment.

Meanwhile, Culture Vannin will be showcasing the island’s Second World War stories through short films and oral history recordings.

Online and education officer James Franklin said: ’The war years made an enormous impact on the Isle of Man - internment camps, three airfields, top-secret radar stations, gunnery and pilot schools, rationing in our homes and so much more.

’This is a fascinating and important story which we are telling in a series of 20 or more short films.

’Along with oral history recordings of two people who were outside Buckingham Palace for VE Day itself, they allow us to better understand the extraordinary years leading up to this day 75 years ago.’

Manx National Heritage had planned to mark the occasion with a theatrical event with Labyrinth History in Action players.

The production has now been turned into three radio plays which will be broadcast on Manx Radio over the bank holiday weekend.

Each play will focus on a different aspect of how VE Day was marked in the Isle of Man in 1945, using Manx newspapers as source material.

In addition, MNH has collated all the Manx VE Day 1945 newspaper stories into one collection so they are easy to access and read.

This section, plus all the Manx newspapers from 1792-1960 are available free of charge at imuseum.im

Different aspects of the VE Day celebrations will be promoted throughout the week on social media using the hashtag #IsleofManVEDay75

It will include food vlogger Grainne Joughin, who will give wartime rations recipe suggestions.

Jo and Juan Callister will be performing a wartime sing-along compilation.

And Isle of Swing will be offering online swing dance lessons in the comfort of your own home.