- Battle countdown – thee days to go
- Town Parade returning on Tuesday for first time in 12 years
- My Battle – meet the leader of the St Matin float
- Did you know that Charlie Chaplin came to the Battle? Find out more below
With the Battle of Flowers just three days away, the JEP continues its countdown series to this years carnival.
FESTIVAL fever will hit the streets of St Helier on Tuesday as the Battle of Flowers town parade returns for the first time in more than a decade.
Last held in 2003, the procession has traditionally acted as a prelude to the two main carnivals later in the week.
Led by St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft and Miss Battle, Chantelle Mundy, the parade will feature the Dolphin Marching Band, a local dancing troupe and the carnival’s mascot, the Battle Bee.
Accompanying the musicians and dancers down Queen Street and King Street will be Miss St Helier, Ella Blampied and Miss Junior Battle, Rachel Jones.
Town centre manager Daphne East said she was delighted that the event had been brought back to the town centre.
‘We wanted to get some fun and life back into St Helier and to try and get the town involved in the Battle, which it hasn’t really been for many years,’ she said.
‘We don’t have many shops in town that have floral displays in their windows or stands outside their doors, so I hope that this might be an incentive for more shopkeepers to get involved and to increase the Battle atmosphere.
‘It’s also going to help raise awareness of the parades later in the week and will hopefully boost ticket sales.’
Ms East said that although the parade would be smaller than it had been in the past, she hoped that it would become a permanent fixture and that it would grow in size in forthcoming years.
‘It’s a great success story to have it back this year,’ she said. ‘We do not have any floats taking part as we are slightly restricted in the pedestrian zones, but I think it will definitely encourage more people to become involved next year.
‘There’s going to be lots of music, dancing and flowers so I think it’s going to be a really fun event.’
The procession will begin from Snow Hill at 4 pm tomorrow.
OVER the years there has been no shortage of famous faces at Jersey’s Battle of Flowers – but did you know that the first celebrity appeared at the parade more than a century ago?
The legendary silent movie star Charlie Chaplin took part in the 1912 event.
The performer was in Jersey with the Fred Karno Company show, The Mumming Birds, at the Jersey Opera House from Monday 12 August that year.
As there was no matinée performance on Thursday 15 August – Battle day – members of the company instead took part in the parade.
Chaplin’s participation in the Battle was caught on film.
However the photographer expressed his anger at the comedian – who was not yet famous – for blocking his view of the floats.
For the second year running spectators will be able vote for their favourite float using their mobile phones.
A telephone number will be made available on Thursday at the parade to allow members of the public the opportunity to text the number of the float of their choice.
To ensure that voting is fair, texters will have only one chance to vote.
The winning float will receive the Spectators’ Award.
Battle of Flowers event director Jackie Donald said: ‘The text voting will make it more engaging for a younger audience, and we are positive it will modernise the event.’
St Martin float leader J-P Guegan
J-P Guegan (32) has played a part in the parade since he was a small child. In previous years he’s been a cowboy, an astronaut and a footballer – this time he takes on the role of the lion from the Wizard of Oz, becoming the float’s mane man in more ways than one.
When was your first Battle and how were you involved?
I can’t remember a first year exactly but I helped out on the Grouville float for many years. My earliest memories are of climbing and playing in the back of the trailer full of flower stems as a small child. I guess it would have been around 1988 when I would have been about six.
How have you been involved since?
I have always been involved in Battle if I have been in Jersey during the summer. Starting at Grouville with my parents and grandparents and moving to Trinity Juniors when I was older as a friend was running the float. I am now part of the team at St Martin’s and this is my second year as the float leader.
What are you doing this year?
We are building a float called Oz. It has ideas from the original Wizard of Oz film as well as the hit musical Wicked. There will be some really recognisable characters and some great songs, not to mention Munchkins, witches and an Emerald City which will be especially spectacular in the moonlight parade.
What’s the best float/performance you’ve ever seen in the Battle?
I remember a float many years ago depicting a group of cheeky monkeys, one of which relieved himself off the back of the float with the help of some cleverly placed water jets. It was great, but I’m not sure you would get away with it nowadays.
For atmosphere I think that the Les Misérables-themed float, Beyond The Barricade, by the Optimists Club in 2013 was hard to beat – it had great music, fantastic set pieces and some great costumes.
Why do you love being involved with the Battle?
Battle is about the people. It brings the community together in such a great way and helps people of all ages focus on achieving a goal in a light-hearted environment (most of the time!)
