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In a festive dream come true for those let down by the covid cancellation of summer’s double Moonlight Parade, Battle will be back for Christmas.
While organisers say the Battle of Flowers’ wintery edition will take place on a smaller scale as some usual exhibitors haven’t been able to put together floats in time this year, they’re still promising a dazzling December display that will bring “festive spirit to the streets of St. Helier.”
It will be the first Battle of Flowers celebration in two years due to the pandemic.
It was hoped that it might be able to return this year, but organisers said they were unable to financially commit to ordering all the infrastructure needed for the parade due to the uncertainty over whether large-scale public events will be able to go ahead.
They then looked at dropping the daylight parade in favour of a double moonlight edition, but continuing covid restrictions meant lights out for the idea.
The Battle Committee expressed concerns that if the pandemic forced them to cancel at the last minute, they could be left unable to cover their costs, particularly given the impact of lower visitor numbers on ticket sales.
On the latest plans, Chair Margaret Fitzgerald said: “The Battle Christmas Parade is always a great start to the festive period and after what has been a challenging couple of years for us all I am delighted that permission (subject to the Bailiff’s Panel and Public Health’s final approval a few days before the event), has been given for us to go ahead with it in 2021.
“I would like to thank the exhibitors for their continuing enthusiasm and as always, to Senator Lyndon Farnham and his officers from Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture, for their continuing support and enabling this to happen. Our exhibitors are very excited to be taking part and it’s the perfect prelude to our traditional floral summer parades, which will be celebrating its 120th anniversary in 2022.”
The parade will be starting in front of Maritime House at the Waterfront on Sunday 12 December at 16:45. More information will be released closer to the time.
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