Every other year, the European Capital comes to full bloom (literally) as it celebrates the Brussels Flower Carpet. Those who live or have lived in Brussels can attest that it is one of the most exciting summer events in the city. The event consists of covering the floor of the Grand Place with more than 600,000 flowers to create a unique design. Every two years, the design has a different theme, usually inspired by a country or region. This year, inspiration came from Japan, as the City of Brussels partnered with the Government of Japan to create this unique design.
Dining Traveler @ Brussels Flower Carpet by Rahul Venkit on Vimeo.
Behind the Scenes: Brussels Flower Carpet
The Event: The 2016 Brussels Flower Carpet took place from August 12th until August 15th. The event was open to the public but guests were also able buy a pass for 5 Euros to gain a view from above from the balcony of Brussels City Hall. The city has been hosting this event for years, highly recommend to make your way to Brussels during this event. What also makes the event special is that many volunteers from young to old, from every part of Belgium, come together to manually place the flowers one by one on the design which literally covers most of the area of the Grand Place.
The Theme: As mentioned before, the city partnered with the Japanese Government to come up with the design. Young Japanese designer Fuji Suzuki, says she drew inspiration from Japanese representations of flowers, birds, the wind and the moon to depict the beauty of nature. She also mentioned that she was inspired by patterns she had seen in kimonos to come up with the design. Belgian Mark Schautteet, the architect of the Brussels Flower Carpet decided which flowers fit best into Ms Suzuki’s design. Although this was her first time in Brussels, Ms Suzuki felt that “she had been there many times before” as she spent time in the city.
Thoughts: This was my first time back in Brussels after the city experienced the terror attacks on March 22nd. My friends who live here are still trying to recover from the horrendous effect it had on the city. Hotels and restaurants have seen a drop in guests, which sadly affects small, local owned businesses the most. Sad to see that many people are still afraid to visit this beautiful and vibrant city. I tell you, as a traveling pregnant woman, I felt incredibly safe in Brussels. As I stood at the balcony of Brussels City Hall, with a view of the beautiful Brussels Flower Carpet I knew the city will heal fully from the unfortunate events of March 22nd. Je suis Bruxelles…
This is always during my summer travel, so I’ve never seen it! The pictures are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.
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