HE President of the Barbados Horticultural Society (BHS), Jennifer Weetch, revealed that the RHS Chelsea Flower Show has been postponed until September 2021.
During a brief interview with The Barbados Advocate, Weetch said this is as a result of the effect of the pandemic in the United Kingdom (UK). She added that the Barbados team will take a “pause” and discuss in May if they will go to England.
Weetch, an organiser of the prestigious event, and her colleagues brought home gold in 2019. It would have been the 20th gold medal and a stellar addition to their past winnings. Barbados has won 20 Gold, 11 Silver-Gilt, and 1 Silver over three decades at the Chelsea Flower Show. In the past, the team attended 32 shows.
Chelsea Show organisers aimed for May event
The British organisers of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show noted on the BBC that they intended to host a six-day show in May. The show first started on May 20, 1913. It was discontinued during World War One, 1932 due to rain, 1939 due to the Second World War, and in 2020, the organisers hosted their first virtual flower show.
This year, the show is scheduled between September 21-26 with fewer patrons (140,000) allowed into the exhibitions. There were 168,500 people who attended the show over five days in 2019, according to Sky News.