Jersey Battle of Flowers Jersey Battle of Flowers The Jersey Battle of Flowers is an annual carnival held in the Channel Island of Jersey in the second Thursday of August. The festival consists of music, funfairs, dancers, majorettes and a parade of flower floats alongside various street entertainers. It was inaugurated in 1902 to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. The largest attendance to date is thought to be that of 1969 when 60,000 people were present. Current spectator numbers are around 20,000. The major floats are usually produced by the parishes of Jersey. The 'Battle' itself originally consisted of
Festival of the Flowers Tulio Botero to celebrate Virgin Mary day. This flower parade represents the end of slavery when slaves carried men and women on their backs up steep hills instead of flowers. The first silleteros parade also took place with some 40 men from the "corregimiento" of Santa Elena carrying on their backs flower arrangements to the exposition site. The festival initially took place during the month of May but was changed to August in 1958 to celebrate the independence of Antioquia. Since then, other events have been added like the "International Pageant of the Flowers", the cavalcade, Guinness Records in 1996