BATTLE of Flowers organisers are seeking private sponsorship to help ensure the revamped annual spectacle can remain a free event for good.
Battle chair Martyn Maguire said that those behind the Jersey institution wanted to maintain its “accessibility” for all.
This year saw a departure from the traditional format, with two free parades through the town centre.
At an annual general meeting on Tuesday night, a large majority of Association members indicated support for a return to Victoria Avenue. (Full report of the AGM: page 9)
The proposed route would be a one-way stretch of just under a mile, using the “sea-side” carriageway, with floats parading eastwards in the Friday afternoon parade, spending the night at West Park and then returning to Millbrook during Saturday’s Moonlight Parade.
Initial estimates for the total cost of a free-to-enter event for 2026 were between £200,000 and £220,000, Mr Maguire said, leaving the association seeking to raise up to £70,000 in private sponsorship, if government funding could be secured at a similar level to 2025.
Speaking to the JEP yesterday, Mr Maguire said: “We’ve got a team putting together a plan at the moment to try and get sponsorship.
“It is not our view that we should ever charge for battle again – we would like it to remain free forever.
“So we’ve got to find ways to allow that to happen,” he continued. “We want to keep accessibility for everybody.”
Mr Maguire also noted that, “from a sponsorship perspective, Battle is better on the Avenue than it is in town,” citing the ability to implement corporate seating and concession stalls as some of the relevant factors.
“There are lots of different options we are thinking of.”
Potential sponsors can contact Mr Maguire via email at Martyn.Maguire@battle.je.
