Edith Cavell's life celebrated in Swardeston festival
World War I heroine Edith Cavell is being remembered in a dedicated festival this weekend.
The nurse helped more than 200 allied soldiers to escape German-occupied Belgium. She was shot by a German firing squad within hours of her trial in 1915 for helping to shelter and smuggle men to Holland, which was a neutral country. Her story of courage will be told at the Cavell Festival, being held in her birthplace of Swardeston, near Norwich. A video premiere on her life, concerts and a church service are to be staged. A guided walk around the village as it existed during Cavell's lifetime is also being held, as well as a reading of her last letter and a display of memorabilia. The organiser of the festival, Nick Miller, said it is a chance for people to learn more about her virtues and apply them to their own lives. He said: "It's a 100 years on and quite a lot of people know the bare facts but nothing much more. "What we're trying to do in Swardeston is keep her memory alive beyond that, so what led to her being like she was and what are the lessons for us in our own lives in the way that we make our decisions and decide our priorities." There are memorials around the world dedicated to the humanitarian, including a statue near Trafalgar Square, and a hospital in Peterborough is named after her. Cavell was born in 1865 and is buried at Norwich Cathedral. The Cavell Festival is being held from 11:00 to 17:00 BST on 8 and 9 October.