First Battle of Flowers Ambassadors announced

Monday 18 June 2018

With less than two months to go before this year’s Jersey Battle of Flowers parades, the inaugural Ambassador and Junior Ambassador, who replace Miss Battle in a bid to make the role more "inclusive," have been named.

23-year old Arcadia Melissa Lockhart and 10-year old Tobias Hosking have been picked by the judging panel to be the Battle's Ambassador and Junior Ambassador, respectively.

Arcadia is a student and community volunteer from St. Helier. She will lead both the Day and Moonlight Parades on 09 and 10 August with her consort, 21-year old Lucie Hosking, a post-graduate student from St. Clement.

Her brother, Tobias, competed against 14 other youngsters. The runner up has been named as 11-year-old Chelsea Birch.

Asked to describe how she felt about winning the title, Arcadia said: “I am overwhelmed to have won and been given the opportunity of representing the Jersey Battle of Flowers 2018 and my Island." Tobias simply said he was “gobsmacked” to have won.

Earlier this year, organisers of the Battle of Flowers announced that both the Ambassador and Junior Ambassador Roles would be open to female and male entrants for the first time. They said this was due to a steady decline in the number of female entrants and the "misguided opinion" that the event is merely a beauty competition.

Organisers also said that the public asked for the role be more inclusive and opened up to men and women.

Jackie Donald, Events Director for Jersey Battle of Flowers, said: “To better reflect this ambassadorial role we took the decision to change the title from ‘Miss Battle of Flowers’ and become more inclusive; therefore opening it up to a potentially larger number of people who would like this experience. This is a fantastic opportunity for any young Jersey person, regardless of gender to undertake this high-profile role and enjoy a memorable year."

Pictured: Evie Bertram, Miss Battle 2017, with Battle Bee.

Just before this year’s title-holder was announced, the audience heard from the outgoing and final Miss Battle of Flowers, Evie Bertram. Evie described her year as “memorable and fantastic” and reminded the successor to make the most of every opportunity that presents itself.