Thousands of people are to gather on Merseyside to remember the 96 Liverpool football fans killed in the Hillsborough disaster 20 years ago.
The supporters were crushed to death on 15 April 1989 during Liverpool’s FA Cup semi-final tie with Nottingham Forest at the stadium in Sheffield.
Victims’ families, survivors and players past and present will gather at Anfield for a remembrance service.
During the event candles will be lit for each of the victims of the tragedy.
Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool’s manager at the time, will give a reading and relatives of the victims will be given the freedom of the city by civic leaders.
A spokesman for the club said: “We rely upon the eternal flame of the Hillsborough Memorial to burn some light into the darkest night.”
The service will begin at 1445 BST and a two-minute silence will be held at 1506 BST, the exact time the game was abandoned two decades ago.
The same silent memorial will also be observed in the city centres of Liverpool, Sheffield and Nottingham.
Liverpool Football Club said it will open the lower tier of the Centenary Stand to accommodate the huge number of fans wishing to attend.
At the same event on the 10th anniversary, 10,000 fans turned out but many more are expected for Wednesday’s service.
On the day of the tragedy, Liverpool supporters were in the Leppings Lane end of the ground.
Liverpool fan Trevor Hicks attended the game with this family. His two daughters Sarah and Victoria were killed in the crush.
Since their tragic deaths he has campaigned for justice and is the chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group.
He said: “We’re sick of it, we wish it had never happened. Similarly, we’re sick of all the backsliding, we’re sick of all the lying and cheating, the unfulfilled promises from politicians, from organisations.
“And really we have no option but to keep on doing what we’re doing, because quite frankly a lot of people don’t listen to us.”