Another Bumper Year for the Barclays Jersey Boat Show
Thousands of people flocked to the 12th annual Barclays Jersey Boat Show this Bank Holiday Weekend, in what has been another busy and successful event.
With favourable weather conditions for most of the weekend it is estimated that in excess of 35,000 people were encouraged to visit St Helier Marina and Weighbridge Place to take advantage of all the activities on offer. These included super yachts and watercraft on St Helier Marina pontoons, visiting Royal Navy vessels, quayside exhibitors offering a variety of marine leisure and lifestyle products, as well as catering franchises.
The Outdoor & Active Zone on the Albert Pier was a popular attraction and saw a variety of activities taking place on the water, including stand up paddle board racing and fly boarding, which wowed the crowds. Skydive Jersey also made an appearance on Sunday and Monday afternoon, delighting the large crowds as they parachuted into St Helier Harbour. Up and coming local musicians were also given the chance to shine with a small stage area set up in the zone for the first time, which also proved popular.
The Solent Stevedores Main Stage, which due to its success last year and larger audiences was once again located in Weighbridge Place and featured an eclectic mix of local musical talent. Much of the activities taking place throughout the weekend were broadcast ‘live’ onto the Big Screen in Weighbridge Place.
Both landside exhibitors and St Helier Marina traders have reported “excellent sales” across the many products and services featured and the initial feedback and response from them has been very positive with many already expressing an interest in taking part again in 2020.
Myra Shacklady, from Ports of Jersey comments, “We are overwhelmed by the response to this year’s show, not only by the initial feedback we have received from our exhibitors so far but importantly from the Island’s community and visitors. Each year we strive to introduce something different alongside our traditional activities and judging by the comments we’ve received already I believe we have achieved this. I would like to pay my own personal thanks to everyone involved in helping us make this event the success it has been, from our own teams out and about on the arena and behind the scenes, our sponsors, participants, traders and performers – without them the show wouldn’t be what it is and we’re already looking forward to 2020”.
On behalf title sponsor Barclays, Managing Director for the Channel Islands, Paul Savery, says, “This year has been another fantastic show, which has seen islanders and visitors alike enjoy Jersey hospitality and entertainment. I am proud of Barclays support for the show and my team’s dedication, working with Ports of Jersey and 3D Events to make it better year after year – so successful has this year been that we ran out of the 5,000 Barclays Ducks by lunchtime on Monday.”
The Jersey Boat Show was first staged in 2008 as a means of showcasing the local marine leisure industry. That commitment remains and has seen the show evolve and grow over recent years, successfully attracting a large number of diverse businesses from both on and off the Island, remaining the largest free-entry event in the Channel Islands.
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