An audience of up to 13,000 people packed Victoria Avenue and witnessed the Optimists Club take their 11th Battle victory, with their lively, animated float, Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines.
The Prix d’Honneur win came in the sports and social club’s 30th year of entering Jersey’s annual carnival, which took place for the first time 110 years ago. A total of 29 colourful exhibits, covered in hundreds of thousands of flowers, took part in yesterday’s parade, which took a new format this year with floats entering the Victoria Avenue arena from two ends, rather than just one.
A far cry from the heavy rain and winds that put a dampener on last year’s event, yesterday’s parade was also one of the hottest in recent years, which organisers said resulted in a last-minute rush on tickets.
Full report in Friday’s JEP
