Floral weekend is big success for Felpham

The parish church of St Mary’s was filled with the smells and colours of flower arrangements.

The village which surrounds the ancient building was filled with hundreds of visitors to its 20 open gardens.

The outcome of the three-day festival was at least £2,000 raised. The money will be divided between the Bognor Food Bank and the church.

Flower festival organiser Janet Bidwell said: “The event went very well. It was a bit windy and cold but the rain held off.

“Seeing people going round the village with their pink programmes for the open gardens was encouraging.

“There was always someone going round the church as well. The cream teas were popular as always.”

The event was the latest of a regular series staged at the church.

It began with the flower festival which began last Friday (June 21) and continued until Sunday.

The theme for the festival was music.

This gave plenty of scope for the artistic contributions to put their creativity 
to use.

Their work could be seen on windowsills, at the lychgate, in the porch, at both ends of the altar and around the choir stalls.

Their 20 arrangements illustrated aspects of the subject such as church bells, bird song, opera, lullaby, Handel’s Water Music and The Wedding March among others.

Mrs Bidwell contributed the arrangement which reflected Old English Folk Music.

She used heads of chrysthemums, delphiniums, love in the mist and carnations to represent dancers around a maypole.

“All the ribbons which come from the pole to the dancers match the colours of the flowers,” she said.

Amber Rose Flowers made a guitar from white flowers to represent rock’n’roll.

Other contributors were Heather Gamble and Caroline Stimpson, Jeanette Fido and Janet Yeates, Rosemary Gregory, Felpham Flower Club and the St Mary’s flower arrangers.

“All the arrangements are lovely,” said Mrs Bidwell. “It’s good to see the church filled with such bright colours.

“The flowers bring people into the church who would not normally come in.

“People who were last in the church years ago can also come back and have another look.”

The festival was complemented by the Yanomamo concert last Friday night. Based on the Amazon rainforest, this was given by the Edward James Festival Choir and the St Mary’s Church Choir with music, songs, verses and readings.

The open gardens welcomed visitors last Saturday and Sunday.

They varied in location from the coast to the countryside and in size from courtyards to country gardens.

A total of 170 programmes were sold.