Annual bonfire cancelled after two postponements

Wednesday 15 November 2023

Heavy rainfall and the after-effects of Storm Ciarán have led to the cancellation of this year’s St Martin's Bonfire.

After twice moving the date of the annual bonfire and accompanying fireworks display, organisers have admitted defeat and called off the event entirely for 2023.

Lester Richardson, President of the organising committee, said the weather forecast was not encouraging and that it had been reluctantly decided that the event couldn't go ahead.

He explained: "The weather's not looking that bright this weekend and the fields where people would park are absolutely sodden – to some extent we are a victims of our own success as it's become a popular event and we need a lot of parking space.

"We looked at whether people could park on the roads, but that would have been very difficult, and we decided we couldn't just keep moving it back as we would be running into Christmas season and clashing with other events."

The cancellation will have a financial impact, Mr Richardson confirmed, with the organisers liable to pay a deposit for the cost of fireworks that would have been used in the display.

Charitable donations to the Jersey Child Care Trust will also be unable to be collected – Mr Richardson said that the committee had chosen to make a £1,000 donation from cash reserves and would support the same good cause in 2024.

He added: "We'll be back next year, weather permitting – but this year the weather didn't play ball.

"Conditions were perfect when we started building the bonfire, and we said that only a huge amount of rain could threaten the event – unfortunately that's what we got."

Anyone wanting to support with collecting money towards the cost of this year's firework display can do so by emailing parish Procureur du Bien Public William Sutton.