The best of the lot – so far
Monday 11th May 2009, 2:30PM BST.
Flying the flag for her island on Liberation Day. Gabriella Stagg, 10, got into the spirit of Liberation Day (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0770159)
Click here to view galleries of pictures from the day
THIS year’s Liberation Day celebrations have been called the best ever.
The thousands of islanders who flocked into St Peter Port said Guernsey’s day had been a great one this year, possibly the best ever.
Those were words echoed by Culture and Leisure minister Mike O’Hara, whose department is responsible for the celebrations.
He said he was stopped in the street by a woman who thanked him.
‘Today has been brilliant and the no-alcohol zone has transformed it back to what it should be,’ she said.
He was delighted.
‘That sums it up. It has been a fantastic day and much bigger than last year,’ he said.
He believed it ranked alongside the celebration of the 60th annivesary.
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Good to hear that the Liberation Day Celebrations in TOWN went so well, it is a shame that couldn’t be said about the rest of the island. Now that town is an alcohol free zone, the problem has moved away from town.
On Saturday I saw drink driving, under age drinking, obstruction of paths/roads by members of the public on roads that were open to traffic, people dropping litter and generally not showing any respect to anyone apart from themselves.
But I am sure no one is going to worry about that as they can turn a blind eye to what’s happening out of town, because all that matters is town is free of trouble, the rest of the island it seems does not count!
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Lib day in town rather marred by the vandalism of the so-called Town Centre Partnership.
The wanton destruction of the North Plantation hasn’t yet given way to the whatever-it-is that’s going to “replace” it. That left an ugly scar on the face of the town on its busiest day. Lots of visitors here, too.
Excellent music on North Beach, Weighbridge and Victoria Pier when I was there, though. And elsewhere, I hear.
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We had a great day, spent hours in town and saw no trouble. Great for the children not to have to see drunken yobs strolling with cans in hand. I am not anti-alcohol but it doesnt leave a good impression on our children. Well done to Mike O’Hara and his team. What was also nice was that the day didnt cost a fortune! Thank God the fair is no more!!! A bite to eat and an ice cream and no more to have to pay unless you wanted to buy something extra. Great Celebration, just as it should be remembered. Here’s to 2009! 65 years of Freedom to celebrate. Sarnia Cherie!
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Totally agree with Laura.We had a wonderful day in town, i only saw a few people drinking and the police dealt with them very quickly.Town really had a lovely atmosphere and i only wish all ‘celebration’ days could be as great as Liberation day was!!
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We celebrated freedom from Nazi occupation with a no alcohol zone.
Still, many people took things too far and late into the night. I hope Herr O’Hara considers a curfew for next year, or enforced zoning of these troublemakers.
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It would seem that many people enjoyed being in Town on Liberation Day as did we. We met friends for lunch then spent the afternoon wandering from pier to pier enjoying the atmosphere.
However, although we were having a very nice afternoon it was apparent that our 13 year old son and his friend were less impressed and I could see their point.
For young teenagers there was nothing to interest them other than the skateboarders etc who we all thought were excellent.
Young children had the Wizard World tent, the circus skills ring and the inflatables. Admittedly my son and his friend could have tried the sumo wrestling but with the queues being neverending it didn’t seem worth the wait.
I fully understand the reasoning behind not having the fair anymore but could we not have a scaled down version similar to that at the North Show?
Even with North Beach being used as it was this year there would still be room for a scaled down funfair. Being local I think it important for local children to feel that Liberation Day is something special and to enjoy it as much as we adults do.
So for next year could we not please give our young teenagers a little bit of their kind of fun?
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Although supportive of the no alcohol policy and the getting rid of the fighting fair.
Deputy O’Hara might be a little tipsy on his own PR. Best of the lot? Both the 50th and the 60th were fantastic.
This years was very good. Best? Hardly!
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Jackie – it’s a common trait to use hyperbole, mainly I think because people have such short memories. In ten years time the majority won’t remember anything about it, no matter how good it was.
In fact, it’s probably “best” to ignore the hyperbole and PR and simply enjoy the event for what it is…
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It has been a good decision to stop the comsumption of alcohol along the seafront and make it an as****e free zone as this was one of the reasons I stopped taking my young sons during the day.
On the subject of the best yet, well it was short on entertainmentr compared to the previous years. I realise the committee have a budget, but where was the bloke who made animals from balloons, the stunt trampoliners, the big group banging drums, those african dudes that came last year and the one man band character all these street entertainers who are the staple diet of any market town in the uk should have been invited over, Give the kids free flags to wave instill a sense of local pride and identity in young Guernsey people and please get this day officially recognised as a public holiday.
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