MP Sir John Hayes lauds the community bonds that make Spalding Flower Parade so special – column
South Holland and the Deepings MP praises the return of the Spalding Flower parade in his latest column...
As the Spalding Flower Parade enjoyed its triumphant return on Saturday, I choose to witness the spectacle with crowds of my constituents standing at the point where Queen’s Road meets Halmer Gate.
We are fortunate to live in Lincolnshire where millions of tulips are grown, and luckier still that the splendid parade allowed us to view them in all their glory.
Since it began in 1959, generations of local people and visitors have been involved in one way or another with organising or attending the parade.
When it stopped in 2013, like others I was disappointed that such an important part of South Holland’s heritage had ceased to exist beyond memory.
But thanks to the work of organisers who helped raise £78,000, the parade has returned to provide pride and give joy to numerous local families and visitors alike.
The floats used this year, adorned with tulip petals, are steeped in local tradition.
Indeed, some pulled this year were from the parades of the 1970s and 1980s!
The same connection was made by the lovely past flower queens riding on a float together and, presumably, reminiscing together too.
When helping to choose the year’s queen and her deputy – the event’s ambassadors - I was delighted to meet the first flower queen of all, Jean Tooley.
That there were those amongst us watching the parade on Saturday, who - like Jean - themselves recall the first such event decades ago, is a reminder that our shared past compromises a myriad of personal memories.
All this is important, because it reminds us of the powerful ties that binds communities by rooting us all in a common heritage.
Similarly, just a week earlier, when our King was crowned, with accompanying pageantry, we celebrated such deeply-rooted sentiment, albeit on a larger scale!
Our local pageant moved me almost as much, for traditions like the Spalding Flower Parade are deeply connected with the history of our Kingdom.
The particularity of local events colour lives as they always have.
It is in such departures from the ordinary that extraordinary memories are made.
Hearts soar when we do things that are beyond what’s necessary – things that excite and enthral.
Interestingly, the concept of ‘tulip time’ pre-dates the Parade, referring to the part of the year when the tulips are at their most beautiful and abundant.
When King George V’s Jubilee in 1935 coincided with this ‘tulip time’, larger crowds than ever descended on Spalding.
Then, Spalding saw an estimated quarter of a million people arrive in our area, to marvel at fields full of blooms.
The tulip-growing industry of south Lincolnshire has involved generations of families, which makes the Flower Parade all the more special.
Now around 25 million tulips that we produce locally are grown under glass.
Nevertheless, the parade is a reminder of just how important horticulture remains for south Lincolnshire’s economy and society.
Such celebrations of local artistry, industry, and heritage are to be truly cherished.
The parade this year showed us all what we have so dearly missed.
But now it has returned, we must do everything we can to support the Spalding Flower Parade going forwards so that generations to come can experience what past generations enjoyed.
As your MP, I have attended every parade and supported church flower festivals from Donington to Sutton Bridge for more than a quarter of a century.
So, I will certainly do all I can to make the ‘people’s parade’ a permanent part of local life.
Long may it continue!
