- With six days to go, our Battle countdown continues
- British Red Cross chosen as the charity to benefit this year
- My Battle – spotlight of float builder Roy Price
THE British Red Cross have been chosen as the official charity of this year’s Battle of Flowers.
The charity, which provides disaster relief to countries around the world, was chosen by Battle organisers to benefit from this year’s carnival, and volunteers will be at both parades collecting on its behalf.
It caps off a special few months for the charity, which has been heavily involved in the Island’s 70th anniversary Liberation celebrations and has already raised £66,000 this year to date.
Bev Dallas-Chapman, the charity’s senior community fundraiser, said that it was an ‘honour’ to have been selected.
‘The Battle of Flowers is a huge carnival and for the British Red Cross to be chosen as the official charity is such an honour,’ she said.
‘The Battle is something that I have grown up with and taken my children to see and it is so lovely that we are involved this year.
‘It will be the finish of a wonderful year for us.
‘We have been very busy so far – in January we had an exhibition at CCA Galleries which remembered the incredible help that the charity gave the Island during the Occupation, and then we had Red Cross fundraising week, the Liberation Day events and now we have been chosen for the Battle of Flowers.’
Mrs Dallas-Chapman explained that the charity’s 60 volunteers have not only been involved in fundraising activities, but have also been helping with the St Helier float, which this year has a British Red Cross theme.
And for the next month, the charity has an extra special volunteer – 24-year-old Marion Rothenhäusler who has travelled from the German town of Bad Wurzach – to help out.
‘We were in Bad Wurzach earlier this year and we had such a wonderful welcome from everyone there so it was great to be able invite her back,’ explained Mrs Dallas-Chapman. ‘She and her parents have never seen the carnival before so it will be lovely for them.’
She added that 20 of the charity’s volunteers would be collecting at the entrance to the arena on both parade days and that for every additional programme that is sold, 50p will be donated to the charity.
‘We are hoping to break £100,000 by the end of the year, which would be an absolutely amazing figure,’ she said.
‘The majority of the money will go towards the disaster relief fund, but some will be used locally to provide humanitarian aid education and some will go towards the emergency response vehicle.’
Roy Price has built this years St Saviour float Hot Off The Press
When was your first Battle and how were you involved?
My first Battle was back in 2009 when I worked on St Saviour’s Prix d’Honneur-winning Japanese-themed float, Hanamachi. I was kind of a handy man for that one – I was just helping out wherever I could. St Saviour were asking for volunteers at the time and I thought it would be a fun experience – and it certainly was.
How have you been involved since?
I have worked on all of the parish floats since 2010 and we’ve had some quite amazing entries. There was Viva Espana, Beautiful Jersey, American Dream and The Never Ending Story. I learned so much from my first experience and ever since I have been completely engrossed. It’s brilliant to see the whole process – building the float from scratch and then seeing it in all its colour and glory on Battle day.
What are you doing this year?
We have been working with the Jersey Evening Post doing a special float to celebrate the newspaper’s 125th anniversary. I have built the float and it’s quite complex as there are lots of moving parts, especially for the cogs in the printing press part. We are a little away at the moment, but I think the finished product is going to look very impressive.
What’s the best float/performance you’ve ever seen in the Battle?
There’s been so many absolutely unbelievable floats over the years, but I would probably go for the first one I worked on, Hanamachi. I didn’t do that much to help on it, but the team did a really amazing effort and I think it deserved to win the top prize.
Why do you love being involved with the Battle?
I think it is such brilliant fun. As soon as we finish one Battle I start to think about the next float and what I might be asked to build. Everyone comes together so there’s a real community spirit that’s created every year.
THE first Battle of Flowers took place 113 years ago, on Saturday 9 August.
Originally planned as a one-off event to celebrate the Coronation of King Edward VII, it was held on Victoria Avenue and was the idea of the then Constable of St Helier, Philippe Baudains.
That first floral parade was watched by around 30,000 people and was reported on heavily in the national press.
At the end of the event, a spontaneous battle took place, where spectators ripped flowers from the entries and pelted each other with them.
Because the parade was such a success, it was decided to make it an annual event – and it was that unplanned flower fight that gave the event the name it has been known by ever since.
The parade was abandoned during the First World War, but revived at Springfield in 1926.
It was suspended again during the Second World War, but returned to Victoria Avenue in 1951, where it has been held ever since.
The largest Battle crowd was in 1969, when more than 60,000 people watched the parade.
The first Moonlight Parade took place in 1990, originally a modest event on the same evening as the main parade just featuring some of the smaller floats.
However, it soon became so popular that the larger floats and bands wanted to join in and it became a separate event in its own right and was moved to the Friday evening.
