Winchester Cathedral Flower Festival Illumination: A Festival of Flowers
Fleet Flower Club recently entered a floral arrangement at the Winchester Cathedral Flower Festival held from Wednesday 5th to Sunday 9th September which this year was entitled ‘Illumination: A Festival of Flowers’.
The title of our design was ‘The Season’ and the inspiration of the design was given to the Club by Angela Turner, the Creative Director of the Flower Festival, it is part of a verse from Ecclesiastes 3:
“To everything is there is a season,
A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted.”
It is a verse that reminds us of the cycle of the four seasons: the birth, growth and maturity of all things natural.
The team of six Club members were as follows: Dee Kelly (Team Leader), Celia Brooks, Angela Clarke, Jane Jeffares, Christine Munday, Tracey Turkington.
Their first meeting was at the Cathedral in February to look at the site and space for the arrangement; the Club were given St Swithun’s Tomb. Then three further meetings were scheduled to discuss the design. A shield was decided upon depicting the coat of arms for St. Swithun, which Dee made out of insulation foam and covered with newspaper and spray-painted copper. Christine and Jane then finished it with three apples carved out of foam.
On the Sunday 2nd September, before staging day, a van was used to transport most of the items to the Cathedral, however, three other fully loaded cars were also needed; it took from 4.30pm to 8pm to unload it all to our space. The team covered the area with plastic to stop the wonderful Cathedral tiles from getting spoilt. Angela and Celia soaked 10 boxes of foam and 16 large trays which each took 12 blocks of foam and had to be carried to our area through the Cathedral, a mammoth task!
On the Monday the team started work at 9am and worked through until 4.30pm with just two short breaks. Everyone put in 110% and the team were exhausted but delighted with the end results.
As you will see from the following photographs the team arranged a spectacular display on behalf of Fleet Flower Club, showcasing their skill and attention to detail. Very well done and many congratulations.
Club team members by the side of their finished arrangement
The shield depicting the coat of arms for St Swithun
