Historically, the festive parade features the majority of floats from the summer parade but this year The Optimists Club has opted out. And the St Clement float – which does not normally take part in the event – will once again not be in the parade, which is due to be held on 10 December.
Traditionally there has been an unwritten rule that the floats must be festive-themed for the December display, but this year the rules have been made more formal by event organisers.
Paul Michel, from The Optimists Club, said the team would not be taking part in this year’s parade because it costs too much money to transform a float to give it a festive design. The club’s summer entry – which won second prize – was Mexican-themed with large flower sombreros, entitled Bossa Nova.
The Battle of Flowers Association receives a £15,000 grant from the Economic Development Department to organise the parade and all the floats then receive a sum of money for taking part.
Traditionally, the bigger floats receive £1,000 each.
Mr Michel said: ‘I know there has been talk of making stricter rules this year so that all the floats have to be Christmas-themed.
‘The hats we had on our float in August cost £4,000 alone and it would be too much money if we were going to change them so they were festive-themed.
‘The money we are given does help a little bit, but it is not worth it for the extra work we need to put in. It takes at least a month to dismantle the float and if we don’t start doing that until the end of December, then we will be delayed for next year.’
St Clement – which won top honours in August’s parade for its float, Aquaria – is not taking part because the parish does not have a secure location to store their float, which has already been dismantled.
The parish built its summer entry at the Royal Jersey Showground in Trinity three weeks before the parade. They no longer have access to the premises, however.
Graham Gibson, chairman of the club, said: ‘This year we were fortunate enough to be able to use the showground in the lead up to Battle, but this still poses a number of challenges for us because we have to complete the build in such a short amount of time.
‘Ideally, we would like a shed space big enough to store the chassis in year-round.’
Jackie Donald, event director for the Battle of Flowers, said it would be a shame if The Optimists did not take part in the winter parade.
She said: ‘It’s an opportunity for all the floats that take part in the summer parade to be part of a festive event. We are expecting about 19 floats to take part this year.’
