Mr Falla, 81, has been taking part in the competition since he was 10. He built the horse float that has since become the mascot of the Battle of the Flowers as part of the Orwellian-themed float Animal Farm in 1984, which also won the Prix d’Honneur that year with Mr Lewis on the team.
‘We made the float so that children can come and sit in it. It’s for the children to enjoy,’ he said.
‘We had it all in sections until this morning as we flower it flat, otherwise it’s much harder for the flowers to stay in position. So now we’re doing everything we couldn’t do until this morning.’
It took Mr Lewis one month to build the frame and the pair had been sticking on flowers since Tuesday afternoon.
Also at the larger end of the exhibits in the Battle were the Le Page family, entering for the 14th time this year with their float Jurassic Park at Saumarez Park.
‘Entering is everything,’ said Graham Le Page. ‘If somebody else wins, we shake their hand and say well done.’
He said he enjoyed seeing new entrants involved in the event.
‘If it’s their first time winning, they’ll come next year. So, in a way, it’s a good thing if they win.’
‘I love seeing the children going “woah” in the crowd when they see our float,’ said Hayley Le Page.
Their dinosaur float involved more than 6,000 tissue paper flowers, which the family started to make at Easter, and eyes that light up in the dark.
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