Spalding Flower Parade committee chairman reflects on 2025 event and aims to be ‘bigger and better’ next year
Volunteers who organised Spalding Flower Parade promise next year’s event will be ‘bigger and better’ and say they are on a ‘learning curve’.
As the sun sets on the 2025 Spalding Flower Parade, committee members have already started work on organising next year’s event.
Thousands of people were drawn to the town over Friday and Saturday to watch the musicals-themed procession as well as the entertainment which was on offer at Springfields Events and Conference Centre.
This is the first year that the committee of volunteers have taken over the organisation of the parade - which has come in for some criticism over the size of the procession and choice of venue.
But committee chairman Ray Clements is refusing to let the negative comments deter them.
He said: “It was no less busy than last year throughout the weekend.
“We did get a lot of negative comments but you've got to have big shoulders for this and it has not dulled our spirits.
“The reason we do it is for the community and it puts smiles on faces.
“I love it and no matter what people say about us - the flower parade family - we are strong.”
Local authorities had previously organised the parade but after a ten-year break it was resurrected in 2023 by director Stephen Timewell.
The committee of volunteers had taken over the parade from Mr Timewell, who stepped down after last year’s event for family reasons.
Mr Clements said: “The committee was new to this and it has been a learning curve - we proved we could do it.
“We will sit down as a committee and see what we can do better, what we got right and wrong.”
Shortly after the parade had finished, a host of criticism had been made over social media about a number of things including the length of the procession.
The committee of volunteers - who had put out repeated requests for help - had received advice from the Boston and Spalding Safety Advisory Group regarding logistics for the event.
Mr Clements said: “We had a brief that we had to be in and out in two hours.
“That is why we didn’t go mental on the amount of floats and our priority was to get people home safely.
“We had a couple of floats that pulled out at the last minute.”
Critics also moaned about the choice of using Springfields as a venue - including the impact on town centre businesses - but the committee were left with few options due to the Castle Sports Complex field being unavailable due to the £26million revamp.
A public vote was held last year on whether to cancel the 2025 parade or use Springfields as a venue.
Mr Clements said: “We had no choice but to go to Springfields as the Castle Sports Centre was out of bounds.
“We would be interested to see how the businesses feel.”
Some businesses in the town centre reported they had a more successful day than usual, whereas others said they were quiet.
There has been criticism that following entertainment from Vikki Earle as Not Taylor Swift the bar and stalls shut down at 5pm when the gates closed.
Committee members were also unable to use the conference centre on the Sunday due to a prior booking.
But a three-day event has therefore been penned in for 2026 on May 7, 8 and 9 - although no venue has been confirmed yet.
Mr Clements said: “It will be looking like a music event on the Friday night.
“There will be the parade and local bands on the Saturday and some sort of music event on the Sunday.
“The parade shouldn’t take a back seat.”
Complaints had been raised about the impact of the road closures.
Mr Clements said: “Last year the road closures were a nightmare and this year police reacted very quickly to any incidents.
“People are saying it is an inconvenience, traffic wise.
“But the parade is going to happen again - maybe they should go on holiday while it is on.”
Those involved in the logistics of the parade have realised that extra time to set up and take down the event would help.
Applications for floats are now being encouraged when booking opens in the summer - as is the request for more volunteers.
Mr Clements said: “We need more people to get involved and more volunteers.
“We were worried people wouldn’t come back to Springfields but we were pretty much at capacity.
“If people want to get involved they are more than welcome.”
Another member of the committee, Mick Deveney, acted as event controller on the day also feels the committee will learn some important lessons.
He said: “Did we get everything right? Of course, we didn’t.
“But we have taken important lessons from this year and are implementing better practices to enhance communication and efficiency.
“We rely on the community’s involvement to ensure the parade remains an annual highlight.”
Dave Mustoe took on the role as entertainment manager, booking acts Badness, Abba Orbit and Not Taylor Swift and emphasised the fact that the event is free.
There had been some complaints online about the cost of things at Springfields.
He said: “Taylor was the biggest thing and we didn't charge anybody to come in - it is on people’s doorsteps.
“We wanted it to keep going and at our very first meeting we said we will make it free.
“It has to be inclusive for the whole community and for that reason I think it was amazing.”
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