On with the show season

Guernsey’s series of traditional summer events kicked off on Friday with the South Show, including its popular bonny baby competition, and will conclude next week with the Battle of Flowers.

It would be easy to dismiss such events as old-fashioned remnants of Guernsey’s past, but as well as celebrating the island’s agricultural, horticultural and craft traditions, these family-friendly shows help to bring the local community together and create a sense of identity and feeling of belonging.

Guernsey quite simply would not be the same without them.

But of course they could not happen without islanders’ support – not only the hard work of organisers and participants in the many competitions, but all those who pay the minimal entrance fee to attend the events.

Being held on a weekend almost certainly helps the two-day South Show to attract more visitors than it would if it took place mid-week – something that the other shows might do well to pay heed to.

But one of the biggest factors that can make or break a show is the weather. The South was beset by strong winds and intermittent rain but was fortunate in that a large part of it takes place indoors in the St Martin’s Community Centre.

The weather is likely to play a much more integral part in the success of this week’s West Show and next week’s North, at which the popular Battle of Flowers forms the finale of the summer show season.

And with August so far having had a disappointingly autumnal feel, organisers are likely to be feeling apprehensive.

Not that this year’s conditions are unusual. As anyone with school-age children will know, the arrival of August in the midst of the school holidays often spells the end of the summery weather and the much hoped-for long days on the beach.

The obvious solution would be to break with tradition by shifting the shows forward to July, when the weather is generally more reliable.

The school holidays could follow suit, bringing the added advantage of cheaper travel costs for holidaying families.

But it somehow seems unlikely that fiddling with term times is a top priority of our beleaguered Education Committee right now.