Despite heavy rainfall dogging the recently held Giraudel/Eggleston Flower Show, organizers say up 2,000 patrons attended the event.
“We had to struggle with the elements … the weather really interfered with the turn out especially towards the end of it,” one of the main organizers of the show, Elizabeth Alfred told Dominica News Online. “But we had up to 2,000 people attending,” she said.
Alfred said other events coincided with the show thus reducing the number of patrons compared to other years. “In the past I think the attendance used to be greater,” she said.
Additionally, she said planning for the show started late because organizers were depending on the completion of a building to host it. “We started very late in planning because again we were depending on the completion or the semi completion of the building to make it appropriate for the cut flower displays,” she noted. “We were not able to start planning let’s say a year ahead, six months ahead. We just started in February putting plans together.”
Not withstanding, Alfred described the event as “a great community effort” and said it was a success.
“It is the first time we had the flower show for an entire week and so we will do our evaluation and we will see what needs to be strengthened whether we should continue that way or not,” she stated. “But I think the idea was good and I think to me it was a success.”
She said she was pleased that the show was helping to revive the floral heritage in the communities, allowing the younger generation to see first hand, that there are opportunities and a future in the Agriculture sector.
“We talk about unemployment because people are looking for jobs all over the place,” she noted. “But there are opportunities for gainful employment in agriculture…So we have to look at the opportunities… look at the economic development of our people in the community and to me the flower show does that …it brings Dominica to Giraudel.”
The show was held from Saturday May 18th to Sunday May 26th under the theme ‘Reviving Our Floral Heritage’.
It has been on the shelf for the past nine years due mainly to the lack of a proper venue to host it.
“So we have to look at the opportunities… look at the economic development of our people in the community and to me the flower show does that …it brings Dominica to Giraudel.” News Article
That is the kind of mentality I will embrace, forever and ever!
Teacher “Lizzie” I am so glad to know that you are still at it, on behalf of our village and our people, and most of all I am very proud to be one of us.
Just pray with me, that God will give me that few more years that I have to be over here in Toronto–because of my son– and I will be back with you and the others, to make sure that we bring Dominicans to Giraudel–praise the Lord.
I am glad that you decided that the show was successful and so I pray that it will continue to be better and better, with more time to plan ahead–let us keep our hopes high in the Lord for it is He who gives us hope. Hope does not disappoint Blessings to all.
2000 people multiplied by 10 dollars.not bad at all
Haha I was thinking the same thing…
the tickets were $10 adult and $5 Children so your total would not reveal a true figure of the monies generated.
congrats
The people of Giraudel and especially the people of Eggleston, as a community, did NOT benefit from the 2013 flower show. Only the Flower group benefited -a group of a few persons.
The booths should have been on the side of the public roads, giving the villages an opportunity to do some commerce. A lot of patrons come to Giraudel and Eggleston to enjoy the villages. To eat, drink and be merry.
Only a few persons could build their booths on the inside. Those who did are reporting very poor sales and little or no profits.
It was a FLOWER SHOW not a jump up.
@cohenval May 28, 2013
I imagine that you have a say, however you concern is the reason we have so are crying foul about poverty in Dominica.
Here we have a group who have been working and planning for months to get something started which can be beneficial for both villages in the future–you are complaining about patrons not having any profits; the group benefited.
As the group has benefited, that the money will be used next year to get things bigger and bigger; what would have happened if the patrons had benefited instead?
They would put their money in their bank accounts for their personal use–and what would happen to the show next year? Nothing! Because there is not enough financial resource to back it up.
How can we ever grow when everyone is only out for themselves? The show was closed for so many years, why not give it a chance to pick up, before the locals start looking for profit?
Who have benefited from the flower show in Giraudel over the years? A few. They have used the opportunities to promote themselves. Throughout the years, that makes lots of money selling floral arrangements. The rest of the community makes nothing. They use the flower show to advertise themselves.
Giraudel has changed a lot from my memory of the last flower show with booths along the side of the road. I think it would still be a good idea to have a few along the road if possible as well as on the site but there really isn’t enough space I think to keep it the traditional way and accommodate a steady flow of traffic.
I agree that the Eggleston vendors may not have benefited immensely so for the next flower show Eggleston should also have a display somewhere maybe in Lilly’s disco or the preschool maybe even something temporarily built on the playing field…anywhere and have booths etc so it stretches between both communities. It was a good effort as teacher Alfred said and what we need to do as a community is attend the meetings and give our ideas that the next flower show be even greater.
Hopefully you will bring forth your ideas to this group as to how to improve on the next show. I also hope that you assisted in putting on this show and are not just sitting on the sidelines complaining. I know this small group has struggled immensely to get this show going do instead of complaining that only they benefited be thankful that it is a start. I am sure that a lot of the benefits the group received from the show will go towards a future show and paying the monies that they owe on the loans taken to purchase the land on which the show was held
Congratulations. Keep up the positive work. Sorry I was not in Dominica to participate.
It was a lovely show. Well done to all the organisers for putting it together.
I appreciated the tremendous efforts the Giraudel/Eggleston Flower Growers Group made to ensure that the flower show was a success. Great work!