Buttercups, daisies, chrysanthemums, callas. We are collecting a bouquet for our beloved mother!
Yes, dear friends, on this spring day you really want bright colors and fresh aromas. Let our dear mothers, grandmothers, aunties and teachers receive “living” gifts from loved ones and grateful students. To make the celebration kind and cheerful, prepare a funny scene about flowers for children. On March 8th or the Flower Festival, a performance with the participation of children will be truly touching and touching.
To stage humorous performances, we need smart kids, some original scenery and lots and lots of fresh flowers. Let the stage, hall or venue for the celebration be surrounded by greenery, and the faces of the spectators be illuminated by good spring smiles. So, let's watch the show...
Flower battles and bud paintings
In Italy, flower festivals are celebrated with a special flair. The season of festivities opens with an international exhibition of irises in Florence. The jury members have a difficult task - to name the standard flower of the year among selected varietal irises brought to Piazzale Michelangelo from different parts of the world.
In many Italian cities, from May to June, Infiorata are held - they decorate the pavements with stunning paintings of flower buds. The tradition dates back to the 13th century. Particularly impressive is the Infiorata in the city of Genzano di Roma, dedicated to the feast of Corpus Christi. Local artists display paintings on biblical themes and classical paintings on the main street, Via Belardo, and then the flower mosaics are joyfully destroyed by schoolchildren - as custom dictates!
Infiorata in Genzano di Roma: a painting created from flower buds
The complex ornaments of the Infiorata at Genzano di Roma point the way to the temple
A similar custom exists in the Spanish city of Girona, where the flower carpet festival begins. All free surfaces, from street paving stones to cars, are covered with colorful canvases with ornate patterns. Patios, usually closed to outsiders, open to the general public, inviting guests to admire the owners' success in the art of landscaping.
Living carpets on the stairs of Girona make steep ascents easier
The classic herringbone pattern of potted plants on the temple stairs in Girona looks fresh and impressive
Flower battles are another colorful tradition of the Mediterranean region. On the last Sunday in July, after the traditional parade of flower floats in the main square of Valencia, carnival participants begin throwing flowers at each other. It is allowed to protect yourself from blows with tennis rackets. The fierce battle lasts until dark and ends at the stroke of midnight with a magnificent fireworks display as a sign of reconciliation.
You shouldn't go outside without a tennis racket during the Battle of Flowers!
Children participate in the “Battle of Flowers” along with adults
At the end of August, a second front opens in the town of Laredo in northern Spain. The battle is accompanied by giant carrosas sculptures, which are collected from the heads of freshly cut plants - dahlias, carnations and chrysanthemums. Craftsmen spend up to 120,000 plants on one sculpture.
Multi-level flower stage at the Battle of the Flowers in Laredo
The finicky horses in Laredo impress with their range and wild energy
Serious battles are also taking place in Ventimiglia, Italy. Every two years, local authorities organize a competition for the best flower platform. In this case, it is necessary to use as few auxiliary materials as possible, and ideally, limit yourself to only plant raw materials. It can take up to 80,000 flowers to create one design.
Flower symphony on the streets of Ventimiglia
Arriving in Jersey on the second Thursday of August, you can also find yourself under fire from flowers. Since the first march of flowers was held on the island on the coronation day of Edward VI in 1902, local residents have every year organized a parade of living sculptures and showered spectators with flowers. Demonstrations take place twice - during the day and in the evening, with illumination.
The entire underwater kingdom on one platform in Jersey
Guitar, maracas and a sugar skull in a dapper sombrero: Mexican motifs at the “Battle of Flowers” in Jersey
At the beginning of summer, the enchanting festival Festa da Flora enters the city of Funchal in Madeira: columns of musicians and dancers with mobile platforms march through the streets. The best florists of Portugal are involved in the design of the decorations. The facades of houses are decorated with floral panels, and housewives display elegant flower baskets and lush bouquets on windows and balconies. The culmination of the parade is the performance of dancers in dresses made of flowers.
The costumes of participants in carnival processions are distinguished by elaborate decor and bright colors.
From 12 to 15 August, all eyes are on the famous living carpet in Brussels at the Grand Place. Multi-colored begonia heads laid on the turf form a bizarre pattern that never repeats. The flying splashes of city fountains prolong the life of plants, and at night the composition is illuminated by spotlights.
The first floral carpet decorated Brussels in 1971. The idea was submitted by the famous architect E. Stoutemans. From the very beginning, he saw his creation exclusively in the Grand Place ensemble and patiently waited in the wings, rejecting tempting offers from contractors from England, Austria and France.
The floral carpet patterns in Brussels play into the architectural ensemble of the Grand Place
The size of the Brussels flower carpet is amazing
How did flower festivals come about?
The predecessors of the famous flower festivals in Europe were flower fairs dedicated to important dates and church holidays. The first wave of ceremonial events occurs in April, when tulips bloom - the first factory flowers in the history of Western floristry to become an object of trade. During the “tulip fever” in the Dutch Republic, fabulous fortunes were made from flowers.
Dutch merchants imported tulip bulbs from Turkey, where many valuable varieties were cultivated for the needs of palace ceremonies. Since the 16th century, Istanbul has celebrated the massive flowering of tulips, which were considered the hallmark of the Ottoman Empire.
Most of the honors went to the Ottoman variety of tulips, which were distinguished by the graceful pointed shape of their petals, which court poets compared to sharpened saber blades, the eyebrows of beauties and the letters of the Arabic alphabet. Unfortunately, authentic ancient varieties have not been preserved, but Turkish breeders intend to revive the original appearance of the Ottoman tulip in duplicate varieties.
Spring romance: let thousands of flowers bloom!
Modern Türkiye remembers the customs of its ancestors. Since 2005, the Tulip Festival has been held in Istanbul from April to May - a picturesque and touching celebration of romance and tenderness. To the delight of couples in love, over a hundred varieties of their favorite flowers are planted in city parks, and theatrical performances and open-air concerts are organized. The largest celebrations take place in Emirgan Park, where an exhibition of landscape compositions and living sculptures opens at the same time.
Green piano in Emirgan Park: one of the installations for the Tulip Festival
Landscape design of Emirgan Park
Tulips blooming in Istanbul
In the Netherlands themselves, the awakening of nature is celebrated later - in the third week of April. No spring festival in the Old World can compare with the luxurious Bloemencorso Bollenstreek carnival, which runs from the town of Noordwijk to the Royal Flower Park Keukenhof, famous for its spectacular photos of endless tulip fields. The noisy procession of mummers is accompanied by mobile platforms with witty installations, folk orchestras and a motorcade decorated with spring flowers. And in the south of the country, in the border town of Zundert, a march of flower sculptures starts, prepared by teams of florists from the surrounding villages.
Tulips inside tulips: installation for Blumencorso
Surrealistic sculptural portrait of Van Gogh from fresh flowers with Blumencorso
Even the ever-hurrying White Rabbit found time for Blumencorso!
The prim English are also not averse to having fun at the carnival procession in the elegant company of flowers. On the occasion of King George's anniversary in 1935, a gorgeous tulip parade took place in Spalding, which the townspeople liked so much that the following year they demanded that the banquet be continued and even extended the holiday for a week, giving rise to a new tradition. The length of the ceremonial route is 25 kilometers, and during the festival days excursions to flower plantations are organized for everyone.
A dapper ride at the Battle of the Flowers in Jersey: two snow-white horses drawn by a light carriage
Floral still life at Spalding Flower Festival with juicy carrots and two cherries
Turin also knows a lot about tulips. Every year from April to May, the “Mr. Tulip” festival is held in the outskirts of Pralormo, initiated by the head of the local consolat, Antonio Molino. In early spring, more than 75,000 tulips and daffodils are planted at the foot of the castle, forming a continuous floral carpet. Everyone can ascend in a hot air balloon and admire the flower patterns from a bird's eye view.
Balloons over the carpet of tulips are the hallmark of the Mister Tulip festival in Turin
In the Middle Kingdom, the main meeting place for florists, flower growers and landscape designers has become the Peony Festival in the city of Luoyang in Henan Province, which takes place in mid-April. Peonies have been grown in China since the Tang Dynasty, but the holiday in honor of the Chinese favorite flower, symbolizing good luck, prosperity and family happiness, appeared relatively recently - in 1982. The organizers try to diversify the cultural program as much as possible, offering a wide range of thematic events, but the main goal of the festival is to promote Chinese peonies on the international market. It must be said that the city authorities are excellently fulfilling their mission - peonies from Luoyang are supplied to 30 countries around the world.
Blooming peonies in Luoyang awaiting their holiday
Bern has its own holiday - the Geranium Festival. When, in the last days of April, the walls of buildings are covered with a lilac, geranium-colored fog, we can assume that spring has come into its own. There is a flower market and an organic products fair in the central square, and the main intrigue is the competition for the best geranium among amateur flower growers. The lucky person who grows the most beautiful flower in the city receives a prize from the city authorities.
The Bernese Flower Market is ready for the Geranium Festival!
The international flower fair "Ghent Floralia" in Belgium is considered the world's largest exhibition of exotic plants indoors. Once every five years, at the end of April, tropical gardens with gazebos, fountains and bridges bloom at the exhibition site. But don’t relax: turning the corner, you can wander into Jurassic Park or plunge into the space of surreal visions.
Flowerbed design in avant-garde style at the Ghent Florals
Be careful: in the wilds of the Ghent Floralia you may encounter a prehistoric lizard!
On the first of May in beautiful France they celebrate not only Workers' Solidarity Day, but also Lily of the Valley Day. By order of Charles IX, on this day all court ladies were given bouquets of fragrant forest flowers. Now lilies of the valley are simply handed out to passers-by on the streets, and satisfied street flower girls are exempt from taxes on the occasion of the holiday.
The French celebrate Lily of the Valley Day
On the warm Cote d'Azur, celebrations begin even earlier. At the end of February, the Mimosa Festival comes to the town of Mandelieu-la-Napoule near Cannes, which, the funny thing is, does not grow here. The branches with fluffy yellow balls that the townspeople exchange actually belong to another plant - a distant relative of the willow. But this does not bother the entertainers: voluminous compositions from fake mimosa are no worse than from real ones!
Arrangement of mimosa at the festive procession in Mandelieu-la-Napoule
Incendiary Brazilian dances at the Mimosa Festival in Mandelieu-la-Napoule
But in Montenegro on the Herceg Novi Riviera everything is fair! The outfits of participants in the carnival march on the embankment of the Bay of Kotor are decorated with the same mimosa that is sold in Russian flower markets. The Montenegrin Mimosa Festival opens on the first Saturday of February.
Ceremonial parade on the embankment of the Bay of Kotor
At the end of spring, the perfume capital of France, Grasse, hosts the International Festival Expo Rose. The event attracts thousands of tourists who want to attend demonstrations of new varieties of roses and take part in tasting elite fragrances.
Roses in the city decoration during the International Expo Rose Festival
Selected roses and luxury perfumes: façade design for the International Expo Rose Festival
In mid-May, in the Moroccan Dades at the foot of the High Atlas, where the best Damask roses are grown, a three-day holiday begins with a beauty contest, ethnic music and oriental dances. The reason for the fun is the beginning of the rose water production season.
The first harvest of Damask roses in Morocco is a reason for a three-day celebration!
Bulgarians celebrate the Rose Festival in the first week of June. For many travelers, an incendiary masquerade ball in the town of Kazanlak with the participation of characters from Greek and Thracian mythologies serves as a decisive argument in favor of a vacation in Bulgaria.
A holiday that smells like roses: folk festivities in Kazanlak
In the USA, the Rose Parade starts three times - in California, Texas and Oregon. The most elegant processions are in Pasadena, a thriving suburb of Los Angeles.
Gingerbread house in clouds of roses: outdoor installation in Pasadena
Cooing doves and fluttering butterflies: romance in Pasadena
Leading trends in landscape design and park architecture are determined at the International Flower Show, which takes place at the end of May on the grounds of the Royal Chelsea Hospital in the suburbs of London. Living models of future gardens and parks are exhibited in specially equipped pavilions. The British joke that summer comes only after the festival closes. The event is supervised by members of the royal family.
Roses against the background of a dilapidated colonnade - an installation with a taste of nostalgia
Members of the royal family consider it their duty to attend the Chelsea Flower Show
In the Austrian town of Bad Aussee, the onset of summer is marked by the Daffodil Festival. In the city and on the lake, onlookers can expect voluminous compositions of daffodils in the form of funny figurines of fairy-tale characters, which will later be transported around the city on colorful carnival floats. The musical parade is commanded by the Daffodil Queen, who is chosen from among the local girls. According to tradition, the Queen is accompanied by a retinue of pretty princesses, so men shouldn't yawn!
An Alpine gnome protects the peace of romantics on a lake in Bad Aussee
Homer Simpson wants to have a lot of fun at the Daffodil Festival!
