‘Once Liberation Day is gone it will be gone forever’

Well, that was an interesting front page story on Wednesday 26 November Guernsey Press: No parish parties for Liberation Day next year. States scale back May plans as parishes are pulling out.

Are we to understand that because the parish douzaines are not doing anything the States organising committee feel that they are able to also do less? Because that’s how I read it. Surely, it should read, ‘No parish parties for Liberation Day next year. States step in to make it a success’.

Why not a headline like that, what is really going on? Is there an agenda to downgrade these celebrations, make them low key and less work and maybe they will fade away? I hope not, but I fear for the future of our Liberation Day. Why do I think this? Let us take a step back and examine the facts:

It is the mandate of the Education, Sport and Culture Committee that they are responsible for ‘The planning and implementing of appropriate arrangements to mark the island’s celebration of Liberation Day including religious services’. Nothing there that would suggest that it is any responsibility of any of the douzaines or anyone else for that matter. So, to read that ‘parishes appear to be turning their backs on the day’ is not only misleading but downright insulting.

In pre-Covid days there was never any problem as the Education, Sport and Culture Committee took up their responsibility and organised events on the day along the St Peter Port harbour front. An ideal location, as not only is this where it all happened all those years ago, but it is an easily-contained area and already has toilet, bar, cafe and restaurants facilities on-site.

It was only after Covid that things changed. Rather than fulfilling its obligations of ‘The planning and implementing of appropriate arrangements to mark the island’s celebration of Liberation Day including religious services’, it preferred a cheque-writing exercise. A ‘new format’ of ‘give the money and responsibility to others’. The others in this case being the parish constables and douzaines – organisations that have no mandate to organise these events. To my mind, nothing less than an opportunity to off-load responsibility.

In 2022, I was present at a wash-up meeting of that year’s celebrations where it was pre-assumed that the next year’s celebrations would be of the new format. Also a few days before that an article appeared in the Press that included a link to a survey that was conducted on preferences for Liberation Day celebrations. Having taken the survey, I noted that the questions were biased to a pre-determined conclusion pointing to out of Town (non-States organised) events. The only question that wasn’t asked was ‘do you prefer or want an annual island-wide Liberation Day celebration in Town’. I wonder why not?

Also included in that article was a quote from then Deputy Dudley-Owen as saying ‘the committee was still to wash-up on events, but it was looking like big Town closures for celebrations would happen only on quinquennial years in future, with the next possibility due in 2025’. This is an interesting statement especially coming before the results of the survey had been published. It is obvious that ESC had unilaterally decided that they would not be fulfilling their mandate to organise annual island-wide Liberation Day celebrations in the future but rather to devolve this responsibility to the parishes.

Also of note is that in 2025 the Town celebration was stated only as a possibility.

So, it appears, we were lucky to have had one.

Back to today, I read that in 2026 the ‘footprint will be smaller as it isn’t a landmark year’. What is that supposed to mean? Surely every year’s celebrations are important, as such, none should be down-graded; rather, extra may be done for some. Remember, for those who are still with us who lived through those times every year is important.

We are also told that this year’s was the biggest event yet. I don’t have any figures so cannot refute this, suffice to say that if you cast your mind back to the days when the fair came over, those appeared to be very big annual events.

So, all the above lead me to a conclusion that the Education, Sport and Culture Committee is not being totally candid. For reasons of their own, they want to down-grade our celebrations and lay the blame on ‘others’.

Liberation Day is special like Bastille Day for the French and 4 July for the Americans. It needs to be cherished. If not by our leaders taking the lead then by whom? Once it is gone it will be gone forever. Let’s hope that ESC steps up this and future years and fulfils their mandate. And let anyone who wants to volunteer to help please do so to continue to make this day special for all of us.

Finally, all those bodies and volunteers that have given their time over the past few years to make Liberation Day special are to be applauded and we should heartily thank them. They are not turning their backs on this day. Rather they are handing back the responsibility.

John Gillson