The parish team, who are entering a Phantom of the Opera-themed float called
Masquerade, will be holding a ‘meet and greet’ at the hotel in their Battle of Flowers
costumes between 6 pm and 8 pm on Friday.
Sue Coutanche, who designed the float, said that the team would be answering people’s Battle questions and posing for photographs while dressed in their elaborate costumes, which were designed by Mandy Thomson and were made by a team of ladies from the parish.
Sue said: ‘We booked a conference room at the hotel to get changed in, as our float is starting from that end of the Battle arena, and we thought that while we were there it would be great to do something at the hotel. They suggested that we did a meet and greet in costume. If the weather is nice enough, we will be out on the terrace, otherwise we will be inside.
‘We have never done anything like this before but we had a dress rehearsal on Saturday and it went really well.’
A team of between 15 and 20 will be carrying out the meet and greet, including Abby Austin as Christine, John Coutanche as the Phantom and everyone else dressed for the masquerade ball.
‘It will be fantastic for holidaymakers staying at the hotel, as well as for Islanders having a drink there before the parade, to be able to have photos with us and ask us any questions they have about the Battle and about how we built our float,’ said Sue. ‘We are happy to explain to people all about the float-building process and answer any questions they have.’
Former Miss Battle Collette Labey, who has been involved with the Grouville float for a number of years, said: ‘Many of us have been involved for years, and we hope visitors will in turn tell our stories to others and have an understanding of what’s involved and the community spirit behind the Battle of Flowers.’
Sue added that the team were willing to do this again for future events and would be keeping various harestailed props from the float to take along to future events. The team have already arranged to do something similar for the Teenage Cancer Trust ball at the Hotel de France on 29 September, and if any other event organisers would like them to attend their event, they can call Sue Coutanche on 07797 756308.
