Battle of Flowers to sell out despite rainy forecast

Thursday 14 August 2014

Organisers of this afternoon’s Battle of Flowers expect the event to sell out despite the probability of rain.

Over 14,000 people should be attending the parade on Victoria Avenue, in St Helier today to see the 26 flower-decorated floats from Jersey’s parishes and associations.

Tickets have been on sale since January but a recent surge means anyone turning up at the gates hoping for last-minute admission is likely to be disappointed.

Tony Perkins, Chairman of The Jersey Battle of Flowers, said: “Ticket sales have been excellent this year and I expect that we will sell out.

“Everything has been going very well this year. The forecast isn’t brilliant but we hope that the weather will hold. Anyway, it’s very unlikely to be as bad as two years ago when we got rained on.”

As well as showers, spectators may also find it cooler than usual.

Peter Munns, forecaster at Jersey Met Office, said: “We are going to have a bright start to the day but clouds will increase as we go through the morning.  Showers are expected to move over from Ireland and to be over the Channel Islands by late morning and early afternoon.

“We don’t expect the showers to be prolonged or heavy and they should blow through quickly. It will, however only be 19C, which is two degrees below average for this time of year. Spectators may need a sweater and a waterproof.”

Although the Battle began in 1902, the "battle" part where flowers were torn off the floats at the end finished exactly 50 years ago. Today, floats are used three times a year: for the Battle, for the Moonlight Parade, and at Christmas.

Anyone who misses out on the Battle this afternoon may have a chance of securing tickets for the Moonlight Parade on Friday evening. This event has only been running since 1989 but is increasingly popular.

Tony said: “This event is more popular with locals and a lot of people wait to see what the weather is like on the day before turning up. The weather tomorrow should be good so we expect it to be very busy too.”

The Avenue will be closed until 7pm today, and tomorrow from 6.15 pm to 3am. Parts of Rue de la Haut will be closed at the same time while parking restrictions are in place on the Inner Road and on several other roads close to the Avenue. Drivers should also expect delays tomorrow morning and evening as the floats move to and from their parishes.