The first Battle of Flowers took place in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII. The floats were fashioned out of chicken wire and the flowers threaded through. At the end of the parade a bugle would sound and "Let Battle Commence", Whereupon the parade would stop, the flowers plucked from the floats and thrown to the spectators who would throw them back. This created much fun. The "Battle” was so successful it was continued every year though suspended during The Two World Wars. In 1964 unfortunately it attracted a hooligan element who invaded the floats and ripped the superstructures apart and threw timber from them into the spectators, some of whom were hurt. It was therefore decided to stop the "Battle", though the name lives on. Since then the floats are made of Plywood and Hardboard with the many thousands of flowers heads glued on. For the last few years they been paraded again illuminated the following evening. This being called the "Moonlight Parade". The floats these days get more sophisticated some being as much as 40 feet long and twenty feet high and many are now animated creating an astonishing Spectacle.This year being its 100th birthday is named the "Centenary Battle" These are some shots of just a few of the many floats that took part in the "Centenary Battle of Flowers" on Victoria Avenue which extended to 2˝ Hours. I hope they convey some of the beauty and atmosphere of the parades
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