St Helier Constable wants to bring back the Polish Festival

Polish Food and Culture Festival Picture: DAVID FERGUSON the band Zbojmicy z Podhalz

Simon Crowcroft said that he wants to bring back the event, which first took place in 2011, after discussing it during the virtual visit to Jersey of the Polish Ambassador to the UK last week.

He added that he would like it to take place in May next year and that he believed holding more festivals like it would be increasingly important to generate footfall in post-pandemic St Helier.

‘During the ambassador’s visit they were reviewing a number of the initiatives taking place to support the Polish community and to benefit from their presence in the Island,’ he said.

‘It was suggested that this might be something we can do. It also ties in with my current thinking about post-Covid St Helier, where there are two particular challenges.

‘One is more people working from home, and so a potential reduction in the number of office workers coming into town, and then the major acceleration of the shift to online retail.

‘Those two pressures on the capital mean that we have to do more to find reasons for people come into town, other than shopping and working. We need to look at things like the latest food festivals, music festivals or art exhibitions. I’m anxious to do everything we can.’

Mr Crowcroft said he had already started work to bring the festival back for next year and he wanted people to come forward to help organise it.

‘It previously ran for about five years at the Weighbridge and I’m meeting Lee Henry [managing director of the Jersey Development Company] to talk to him about possibly bringing it back there because that seemed to be a really good place to do it,’ he said.

‘We’d be looking at possibly holding it on the penultimate weekend of May next year. I’ve provisionally got that pencilled into my diary and I’d like to hear from people who would be interested in making it happen. The festival benefits the local community, it’s good for the Polish people who live here and it’s also a great chance to celebrate our multicultural identity.’

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