Battle of Flowers should be modernised, meeting told

The annual event has been a core Jersey celebration since 1902

Jersey's annual Battle of Flowers parade "needs to be modernised" some of the island's competitors have said, at a meeting over its future.

Some event participants said they might not be able to return due to a lack of funding and sponsorships.

About 80 islanders attended a meeting on Wednesday evening, with suggestions including moving the main parade to a Friday instead of Thursday.

Battle organisers said it was "still a much wanted and much needed event".

Organiser of the meeting, Maria Reddy, said discussions had been worthwhile.

'It needs to change'

"I feel a lot more positive, this year's Battle of flowers, a lot of people came up to me, the competitors came up to me and said it really needs to be modernised, it needs to change, we need to have a chat about it and I said, 'well, I'll call a meeting', so that's what I've done," she said.

The two-day event celebrated its 120th year in August, with 22 floats participating among marching bands and an array of dancers.

Float builders and states members joined other event supporters for the meeting, which was called after some organisations said they could not afford to continue taking part.

Battle winners of the 2022 event, the Optimists, have previously said they would not be able to return in 2023 without more financial support.

Islanders and tourists head down to St Helier to watch the two-day parade every year

Jersey's home affairs minister said organisers could get more states support if it offered more to the community.

Deputy Helen Miles said the event had become very tourist-focused and could do more to support islanders.

She said: "You think about the positive effects that bringing the community together has, it can combat loneliness for example, it can certainly contribute to improving people's mental health.

"There's other things that the battle communities can do, they could put on flowering courses for example, share how you design floats, actually share the whole community of battle across different communities."

Battle organisers said the parade was "still a much wanted and much needed event", with its future still unclear.

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