Battle Cries III: Promise of "new era" as exhibitors voice need for change

Thursday 08 September 2022

Battle of Flowers exhibitors are all open to change and next year could herald a new era for the annual parade, one of the organisers have said after a “positive” meeting last night.

On Wednesday evening, around 60 islanders involved in the annual carnival gathered at Grouville Parish Hall to share views on its continuing viability.

Main Battle board member Paul Whiteside said that some “brilliant” points had been raised by exhibitors and there was real positivity around the future.

“From my point of view, the fundamental take-out was that exhibitors are open to change. That’s really important because, at the end of the day, the parade is exhibitor-led,” he said.

“It was a full house last night and everyone was positive about the need for change.

“Of course, there are limitations on some of the ideas, as some would involve more money from Government at a time when it wants to give less.

Picture: St. Saviour entered a paper float in this year's parade.

“But what last night did was give the board a mandate for change. Everyone is on the same page and we now need to work out what those changes are, who implements them and who pays for them. We cannot keep using the past 120 years as a reason to keep things as they are.”

He added: “We might make some mistakes before we find the winning formula, but we will find it.

“There needs to be a lot more discussion but next year’s Battle could herald a new era for the carnival, with the carnival transformed from a mainly tourism event to a community and arts event.

“This could mean more freedom for exhibitors to create their own pieces of art and less emphasis on the rulebook. It could also mean a change in venue; someone suggested returning to a round arena, as it was when the parade was held at Springfield. 

“No idea was shot down last night and there was a wide range of ages and roles represented.”

Mr Whiteside was that while Battle board members attended last night, they were primarily there to listen.

At the meeting, a clear majority of exhibitors wanted to see the Thursday parade moved to the weekend.

Last month, the parade returned after a two-year hiatus due to covid. The parades were watched by more than 20,000 people, although the Thursday event was impacted by high temperatures, which meant there were empty seats and less carnival atmosphere as both spectators and performers were forced to find shade. 

One of those who attended the meeting, St. Saviour BoF Committee member Damon Greber, said that a range of opinions had been expressed but there had been common ground on moving the Thursday parade.

Picture: Exhibitors want to see more bands and performers in the parade.

“Everyone agreed that that would be the right thing to do, not only for those taking part but also people wanting to watch,” he said. “Leading on from that, another discussion point last night was whether the focus should be on creating an event for locals or tourists.

“Another common theme was replicating the Moonlight Parade’s more carnival-like atmosphere at the day parade, then discussing how that could be achieved. More bands, performers and floats were all mentioned, along with questions on how it will be funded.

“Some of the key questions are what does Battle provide to the island and what does the Government want Battle to be? Also, what is Battle’s market, and what social and cultural benefits does it bring?”

Mr Greber added that the challenge of finding space to build floats was also raised.

“St. Saviour, for example, is no longer on parish premises so we are now renting a shed,” he said. “You are not going to get new exhibitors if they have nowhere to build their float.”

Pictured: The Optimists' Club won the Prix d'Honneur this year.

Steve Bouchard of the Optimists’ Club was also at the meeting.

“There was an awful lot of good points made, including calls to make it more prominent, with better advertising and promotion and a drive to make it more of a carnival atmosphere,’ he said.

On the issue of the relatively low number of floats this summer – 21 – he said: “I don’t think we should under-estimate the impact of the two-year break. Some exhibitors lost some helpers during covid but given that this year went ahead, it is right that we look on the bright side.

“I know that St. Peter, St. Helier and the Grouville juniors plan to be back next year.”

He added: “A lot depends on funding. Either we get more corporate support or perhaps we get more public funding from the arts and culture budgets rather than Economic Development.”

Mr Bouchard added that the Prix d’Honneur-winning Optimists already had a design for a senior float for next year but was still hoping for a main corporate sponsor to step forward.

Pictures: Alex Cordinder, with thanks