Brussels City Hall was decked out in its finest for the 7th edition of Flowertime, which began today, 13 August, and will end on Sunday.
This year, the theme of the biennial event is to celebrate fashion and textile design - two disciplines in which Belgium excels, says Belga News Agency.
Every other year, the Grand Place hosts the famous 'flower carpet', when the cobblestones of the iconic square are covered by a carpet of brightly-coloured flowers.
This year, there is no flower carpet, but the City Hall has been transformed into a floral wonderland. Hundreds of delphiniums, chrysanthemums, carnations, thistles and orchids have been artfully arranged through the UNESCO World Heritage building, which has been dressed in tulle and other fabrics.
For the 6th edition of Flowertime 30 Belgian floral artists were invited to decorate the rooms of Brussels City Hall. Credit: Mateusz Kukulka/Belga.
BELGA PHOTO MATEUSZ KUKULKA
Thirty floral artists, mainly Belgian, were asked to create an "immersive and fragrant journey" for visitors using more than 100,000 flowers.
“Floral art and textiles are deeply rooted in a shared love for nature, design, and touch,” explained Pieter Tolbaert, artistic director of Flowertime and general manager of Floraliën in Ghent. “Textiles offer a variety of structures and colours that blend beautifully with the organic shapes and delicate textures of flowers and plants.”
For the 6th edition of Flowertime 30 Belgian floral artists were invited to decorate the rooms of Brussels City Hall. Credit: Mateusz Kukulka/Belga.
For Delphine Houba (PS), Alderman for Culture, Tourism and Major Events for the City of Brussels, the event “highlights two creative worlds that naturally interact with floral art to offer a unique sensory experience, where each composition evokes the elegance, innovation and beauty of the artistic gesture.”
Flowertime 2025 welcomes artists from the three regions of the country as well as international florists from Argentina, Mexico and Ukraine, and aims to be mindful of its environmental impact, by favouring biodegradable products and wildflowers.
For the 6th edition of Flowertime 30 Belgian floral artists were invited to decorate the rooms of Brussels City Hall. Credit: Mateusz Kukulka/Belga.
The flower carpet will be back in the Grand Place next year. Since 2020, it has been included on the Brussels Inventory of Intangible Heritage list, but the Regional Government applied for UNESCO Intangible Heritage recognition in March 2024 to fully protect it.
While Brussels' flower carpet is one of the most famous across the world, the tradition originated in the 14th century in countries around the Mediterranean, such as Spain, Malta and Italy. This is why the dossier was started almost ten years ago by a Spanish association in close collaboration with the Brussels association behind the event, 'Tapis de fleurs'.
The 2024 flower carpet in Grand Place. Credit: The Brussels Times / Isabella Vivian
