A huge job... but extremely rewarding. That's how Spalding Flower Parade float designer Debbie Lishman describes the role of creating the 12 floats that will make up South Holland's largest event, its annual flower parade, this year.

As we go to press, Debbie has her head down creating the event's floats and preparing the team for the huge job that is pinning over half a million flower heads onto them.

"It's colourful, it's fun, and it's a celebration of the area's heritage. But the flower parade is also of crucial importance to the area both economically and as a tourist attraction," says Debbie.

The headline statistic is that for every £1 spent facilitating the event, over £6 is made by local businesses and as a result this generates £1.5m for the economy.  The event, which is funded by Lincolnshire County Council, South Holland District Council and the Rural Development Programme in England or RDPE via the Wash and Fens Rural Development Programme, brings in a serious amount of cash for the area's independent shops, pubs and restaurants.

That means the £1.5m event, which is funded by Lincolnshire County Council, South Holland District Council and the Rural Development Programme in England or RDPE via the Wash and Fens Rural Development Programme, brings in a serious amount of cash for the area's independent shops, pubs and restaurants.

The event still attracts around 50,000 visitors each year, which is impressive in itself. Back in 1959 when the first parade took place, there were fewer forms of entertainment with which the parade had to compete. Nonetheless the event has not only survived, but grown... and grown, also, to inspire the whole community, local businesses and a small army of volunteers to support the town of Spalding.

That still leaves Debbie with the undertaking of designing and creating the centrepieces of the event, the floral creations that will complete the three and a half mile parade route through the town. The procession will travel from the Springfields Exhibition Centre, along the River Welland to Ayscoughfee Hall, eventually reaching the free to enter Sir Halley Stewart Playing Fields.

Each year the floats are themed, and in light of this month's royal wedding, the theme is British Icons. That brief gave float designer Debbie a great head start when she came to create her initial designs.

"I'm a print designer by trade." she says. "I was born in Louth but have worked in London, Newcastle and various other cities for clients like Boots, Marks & Spencer and British Gas. I moved back to Lincolnshire to raise my family around 17 years ago, my husband Tim is from Spalding so we were both familiar with the parade, and I was thrilled to be asked to design this year's floats."

Debbie began with initial sketches in pencil and ink. Ideas included George and The Dragon, The Beatles and Sir Isaac Newton, the latter especially relevant to Lincolnshire!

Once her initial sketches were refined, Debbie worked with Ian Caudwell - a blacksmith since 1988 and owner of Billinghay Forge - to create a skeletal structure which will fit over or can be towed by a tractor.

"Ian really knows his stuff, he's very clever!" says Debbie. "Traditionally, the metal framework could then be stuffed with straw, but these days, we use cardboard and foam."

Once 'foaming' is completed, the structures are then ready for their flower heads to be attached. One of Debbie's most important considerations when designing her floats is the availability or unavailability of different colours which is entirely dependent on the quantity of each colour of tulip head grown by local farmers.

The original purpose of the spectacular floats was to use up the by-product of the area's bulb industry. The heads of each flower would be pulled off to ensure the bulb, rather than the flower head itself, would receive the plants' nutrients. This would ensure large, healthy bulbs, and the colourful but commercially pointless flower heads didn't have to be discarded.

Debbie attacks each foamed float with her spray paint to indicate where each colour of flower goes. Then, on the 27th April this year, a small army of volunteers will attach up to 100,000 flower heads to each individual float, pinning them into place with inch and a half long mossing pins.

For areas of detail, flower heads are strung together to form garlands - these can be seen in the cake icing on this year's royal wedding float, and on Sir Isaac Newton's long flowing hair! The floats also feature papier-mâché heads as this affords Debbie the opportunity to create more detailed features.

The parade will leave Springfields on the Saturday from 2pm and will be available for closer inspection by members of the public from 4pm-6pm at the town's free to enter Sir Halley Stewart Playing Fields.

The event will this year feature marching bands, street performers and live music performances - including the Upbeat Beatles. New for 2011 is a specially commissioned trumpet fanfare entitled Mille Fiori, performed by four trumpeters and created exclusively for the event by Lincolnshire composer Peter Seabourne.

The event will, of course, also celebrate the crowning of a Flower Queen, chosen from five finalists by a panel of judges.

The celebration of the area's flower growing heritage originally began with King George V's Jubilee, which coincided with the time the tulips were in flower. By the late 1940s the region's growers became involved in the planning of Tulip Week. The event was renamed Tulip Time in 1950 and was held in conjunction with Spalding's Urban District Council.

Within nine years the event had come to include a parade, which became world famous and attracted international visitors.

"It's really important that people celebrate the area's heritage with us." says Debbie. "Interest in the Flower Parade has waned with the emergence of different channels of entertainment."

"There's less of a sense of community nowadays and we need to get that back. The event belongs to everyone not only across Spalding but Lincolnshire too."

With this year's event under the custodianship of new organisers Kenyon Communications and with Debbie working hard to create breathtaking floats, 2011's Spalding Flower Parade is set to be a stunning and flamboyant affair.

"It has been a really interesting experience, designing the floats for the first time." says Debbie.  But it's really rewarding, I would encourage everyone to come along and share the fun!"

The 53rd Spalding Flower Parade takes place on Saturday 30th April from 2pm. For more details see www.spalding-flower-parade.org.uk.