Thousands are expected to turn out on Walmer Green this Sunday to welcome the Royal Band of HM Royal Marines (Portsmouth) back to Deal.

Early arrivals are expected from 10.30am, with many bringing tables and chairs to set up picnics while enjoying pre-event entertainment from the Dover & Herne Bay Sea Cadets Band, a guitar soloist and a performance from a jazz group of former Royal Marine musicians.

The vice-chairman of the Deal Memorial Bandstand Trust, Bill Butler, said: "We are hoping for clear skies at around 1.40pm when a Spitfire and Hurricane from the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight are expected to fly past in tribute to the 11 Royal Marine musicians who were killed when an IRA bomb exploded in the Royal Marines School of Music in Deal."

The yearly memorial concert has become a mecca for former Royal Marines and those who feel compelled to remember the atrocities of September 22, 1989.

It is also the annual rededication of the Deal Memorial Bandstand on Walmer Green.

A new feature will be a performance from Deal opera singer Rebecca Robinson, who will sing with the band during the first half of the concert, starting at 2pm.

Mr Butler added: "The programme builds up to the rededication of the bandstand and finale. After the traditional playing of Sunset, the concert will close with a Last Night of the Proms style ending and the regimental march of the Royal Marines – A Life on the Ocean Wave."