Battle of Flowers
The Jersey Battle of Flowers is an annual carnival held in
the Channel Island of Jersey in the second week of August. The festival
consists of music, funfairs, dancers, majorettes and a parade of flower floats
alongside various street entertainers. It was inaugurated in 1902 to celebrate
the Coronation of Edward VII and the largest attendance to date is thought to
be that of 1969, when 60,000 people were present.
The major floats are usually produced by the parishes of Jersey. Miss Battle of Flowers, the overall winner of the
Miss Parish contests, rides on her own specially made float. There was also
formerly a Maid of Honour who rode with the Miss Battle but this has now been
dropped. The tradition of having a Mr Battle to escort Miss Battle was in
abeyance for a number of years, but Kyran Bracken revived the role in 2007.
The 'Battle'
itself originally consisted of dismantling the floats to provide floral
ammunition for a literal battle of flowers between participants and spectators,
but this aspect has long been abandoned. Since 1989, a night time Moonlight
Parade with the floats festooned in lights has been introduced, culminating
with a large fireworks display.
Battle of Flowers 2007 Gallery