Plymouth City Council leader Tudor Evans OBE has invited President Joe Biden to visit Plymouth, the city where the Mayflower set sail.
Speaking on the day of the president's inauguration and following the announcement that the G7 summit is heading to Cornwall in June, he said: “I think it is brilliant news. The eyes of the world will be on this part of the country and all of us will benefit from the attention this stunning area will get.
“It’s a great opportunity for the whole region and for Plymouth as the region’s major city.
“I have written an invitation to the president and his wife Dr Biden to visit Plymouth, to stand where the pilgrims stood in their final moments in England; to look out from the Mayflower Steps to the ocean they crossed to America and to join us in marking this important international history.
“The Mayflower voyage is one of the most influential journeys in global history and a defining moment in the shared history of Britain, the US and the Netherlands.”
The commemoration is an important international collaboration between partners in the USA, the Wampanoag nations, Holland and the UK, with the UK epicentre of the whole commemoration in Plymouth.
With government support, an international partnership has been working to create this shared commemoration and while the COVID-19 pandemic hugely changed plans, we are still aiming to close our commemorations in spectacular fashion this summer, he said.
The culmination of the Mayflower 400 commemorations is the Mayflower International Festival and Four Nations Ceremony on 10 and 11 July 2021. President Biden will have visited the south west of England just a month earlier for the G7.
Councillor Evans added: “We would love to also welcome Vice President Kamala Harris to join us in Plymouth to mark the anniversary of this world shaping history and the cultural ties between our nations.”
A formal invitation will be sent to Vice President Harris and the US Ambassador to the UK when they have been appointed.