Blackpool is marking the 60th anniversaries of VE and VJ Day

Blackpool Council is screening the premiere of "Going to the Flicks", a film about children during the war.

The cinema will be decked out with sandbags, while the audience will hear war-time sounds and watch archive film.

Over 3,000 pupils from schools in the resort will attend the Odeon Cinema on Rigby Road from 4 to 8 July.

The Mayor of Blackpool, Councillor Philip Dunne, is also due to attend the aunch of the 10-day event which is being funded by an �11,314 grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

It is important that the events of 60 years ago remain in the minds of young people today Spokeswoman for Blackpool Council

A feature-length episode of Laurel and Hardy will also be shown before the pupils, from Beacon Hill High School, and other guests are asked to stand for the National Anthem.

A spokeswoman for Blackpool Council said: "This event will be a fantastic opportunity for pupils to see history come to life.

"It is important that the events of 60 years ago remain in the minds of young people today and the sacrifices of those who lived through the war years are remembered and commemorated."

Blackpool will hold the official cenotaph service for Lancashire on 10 July.

VE Day marks 8 May 1945, when Germany formally surrendered to the Allies. The Japanese surrender, marked by VJ Day, followed three months later on 15 August.