The Friday evening reception will take place at Guildhall at the centre of Exeter High Street and will be hosted by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Hazel Slack.
The Guildhall has been the centre of Exeter's civic life since the 12th century. The present structure of the hall, with its fine roof built by local craftsmen, dates to the late 15th century (probably the 1460s). It is one of a group of closely related roofs in the Exeter area (the others being in the Cathedral Close, at Cadhay near Ottery St Mary and at Bowhill, Exeter)which share a number of distinctive structural features, such as the coved apex. The panelling is late 16th-century, substantially remodelled in the 1880s.