PICTURES: Victoria Avenue transformed into a spectacular floral wonderland for revamped Battle of Flowers

CROWDS lined Victoria Avenue yesterday for a spectacular display, as a newly reformatted Battle of Flowers took place.

The revamped event, traditionally held on a Thursday afternoon, started at 5pm and had hoped to pull in punters with the schedule change.

The popular Moonlight Parade, formerly held on the Friday night after the previous day’s main parade, will take place tonight and will include a 100-strong drone show.

Parishes, clubs and associations worked hard all year designing their floats – with their efforts ramping up over the past few weeks, adding last-minute touches to their entries in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Drizzle and grey conditions early in the day did not deter the crowds, who turned up to see the historic spectacle.

The Optimists Club impressed with their space-themed float, Star Fighter 2… The Final Countdown, while St Peter and Adrian and Friends both opted for Mamma-Mia!-inspired designs – and encouraged Islanders to sing Dancing Queen and other ABBA hits as they passed.

St Clement went to town with their jazz-themed float featuring Art Deco posters and flappers.
Audience members were transported into a fantasy world by Grouville’s sky pirates, with the eastern parish’s float featuring a detailed dragon and Constable Mark Labey
appearing as a pirate as well.

St Brelade’s beautiful Japanese Gardens float rolled past serenely, inspiring a period of reflection.

As well as the 22 competing floats, the Battle of Flowers Association’s creations went to new lengths to feature live music and entertainment, including from Beatles tribute band The Beantles, who kept audiences entertained throughout the afternoon.

A 16-page supplement of pictures from the two parades will be published in Monday’s JEP.