CNN
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A ballot is being held to distribute 10,000 free tickets for the coronation concert of King Charles III to members of the public, the BBC press office announced on Thursday.
The national broadcaster revealed that 5,000 people will receive a pair of free tickets to attend a May 7 concert on the grounds of Windsor Castle, which is being televised live across the entire BBC network. The concert is taking place a day after Charles’ coronation on May 6.
The ballot opens at 7:00 a.m. GMT (2:00 a.m. ET) on February 10 and will be open until February 28.
The allocation of tickets will be decided on the geographical spread of the UK population rather than on a first-come-first-serve basis, the BBC press office said. Winners will be selected after February 28.
The remainder of the tickets will be distributed to charitable organization workers who support their local communities and the wider commonwealth, according to the broadcaster.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer the public the opportunity to be part of the event,” BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore said in the statement. “The coronation concert on the BBC will bring the nation together to mark this momentous occasion.”
Further announcements regarding the lineup of presenters and musical talent will be made in “due course,” the statement added.
The coronation itself will be “a solemn religious service, as well as an occasion for celebration and pageantry,” conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the palace said.
It will, the palace reiterated, “reflect the Monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.”
That line from the palace has been interpreted by experts as a hint that Charles’ coronation will be different and more subdued from the one his late mother experienced seven decades ago, with a shorter ceremony and amendments to some of the feudal elements of the ritual. Queen Elizabeth’s coronation was the first live televised royal event and lasted three hours.
The day after the coronation, May 7, thousands of events are expected to take place across the country as part of the “Coronation Big Lunch,” while as-yet unnamed “global music icons and contemporary stars,” will come together for a “Coronation Concert” held on Windsor Castle’s East Lawn, the palace said.
