Jersey Battle of Flowers 

In celebration of the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra the island of Jersey decided to stage a parade. The event that was held on August 9th 1902 was so successful that organisers decided ti repeat it the following year- a summer tradition was born that is carried on till this very day. During the early days of the event, the floral floats were mainly horse-drawn. The tradition at that time was for flowers and petals to be torn from the float and thrown to a lady in the crowd, in the hope that one might be thrown back. This is how the battle got it’s name. 

There has only been two periods throughout the battle’s history when world events forced its cancellation, these being during World War I when the parade was abandoned and not restarted until 1926. Similarly, during the Second World War and Occupation of the Channel Islands the Battle of Flowers was suspended. It was much later in the 1950s when a group of local businessmen decided the Battle of Flowers needed to be brought back as a much needed focus for the community as well as the benefit for the island’s tourism sector. The tradition of throwing the flowers from the floats stopped in 1964, although, the name has stuck and has continued to flourish. The parade has continued non disturbed,  welcoming an excess of one million spectators over the years. 

The Battle has always and will continue hopefully to be a sense of community, commitment and pride. However, the  friendly competition between floats remains fiercely strong. As the battle has grown and developed over time as too has the floats in both size and design. Nowadays, floats can reach 45 foot in length and horses have been replaced by hidden motorised machinery to drive the floats along the avenue. 

In 1989 in order to enhance the carnival atmosphere even more, the Moonlight Parade. This event is very similar to the day time one, although the floats are illuminated. It is one of the island’s biggest community events involving hundreds of volunteers from across the island. I think this tradition is extremely important for the island in order to share a memory that has lived for years. The spectacular event is community driven, without the residents of Jersey there would be no parade.

I choose to focus on this idea for community because I am able to tie in lots of different aspects for example, my grandfather, who I have focused the family themed project on, use to participate in the parade with his eight children and wife many years ago. I also think it would be interesting to include some archival images as I am sure an event of this magnitude for the the island must have a selection of photographs. From looking at my grandfather’s photographs and talking to my grandmother, I think the battle came across as being a great deal more focused on smaller family groups. Whereas today it’s mainly groups or businesses making larger floats in comparison, which has both negative and positive impacts.