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From June to September, travelers always have memorable experiences with the most remarkable summer flower festivals worldwide.
Summer Travel: Explore the 5 Most Impressive Flower Festivals Worldwide
A popular event in many countries, not only to honor flowers but also to promote nature, beauty, and local culture.
1. If you visit Italy in June, allocate at least a day for the Genzano Infiorata Flower Festival in the town of Genzano. Since its first edition in 1778, the traditional Genzano Infiorata flower festival, honoring the Corpus Christi with an increasingly large scale, has become a famous religious, historical, and folk event in Italy and the world, attracting over 150,000 visitors annually.
During the three-day festival, visitors flock to the main street Via Belardi leading to the Santa Maria della Cima church to admire the flower carpets designed as religious-themed artworks or masterpieces of painting by local artists.
On Tuesdays, local students are allowed to run over the flower carpet to... remove them as a way to end the festival.
2. Every August, the city of Medellín in Colombia comes alive with the Feria las Flores Flower Festival held since 1957, featuring the centerpiece event of the Silleteros parade.
Participating in the parade are farmers carrying flower trays weighing up to 70kg on their backs with 25 - 70 flower varieties. Throughout the 10-day festival, the city streets become dazzling as they are adorned with millions of flowers.
The flower arrangements depict images of landscapes, portraits, or messages about indigenous values. Following the parade are graceful dancers in eye-catching costumes accompanied by impressive music bands.
As Colombia's intangible cultural heritage and a symbol of ending slavery, Feria las Flores features not only flowers but also over 140 traditional and modern cultural events including concerts, horse fairs, band festivals, vintage and modern car displays, or dog parades.
In 2016, the festival took place from July 29th to August 7th.
3. On August 26th, the city of Laredo, Cantabria province, an autonomous community of Spain, hosts the vibrant Batalla Flores Flower Battle Festival. The highlight of this festival, held on the last Friday of August since 1908, is the parade of flower-decorated floats.
A panel of judges will vote for the most beautiful float of the festival. Amidst the colorful and fragrant flower-filled atmosphere, outdoor markets and numerous music groups performing on the streets of Laredo make Batalla Flores even more appealing.
The festival concludes with a fireworks display as night falls.
4. Once every two years, a giant flower carpet appears in the central Grand Place square of Brussels, Belgium. And 2016 marks the 20th edition of the flower carpet.
From August 12th to 15th, visitors are expected to admire the artistic masterpiece of flowers spread over an area of 1,800m² crafted from over 600,000 flowers combined with grass and colored wood chips.
Combined with the celebration of 150 years of diplomatic and friendly relations between Belgium and Japan, many themes related to Japanese tradition are also honored. The enchanting flower carpet becomes even more magical in the dance of sound and light throughout the festival…
5. The Luchon Flower Festival 117th edition in France takes place from August 25th to 28th, starting with the traditional Miss Pyrenees Flower Queen competition. But the heart of the festival is the flower float parade, puppetry amid the lively sounds of artists and dancers from many countries.
During the four-day festival in the city of Luchon at the foot of the Pyrenees mountain range, you have many choices such as attending talent competitions or enjoying performances by folk art groups and foreign music bands, laser art shows, fireworks…
According to Tuoi Tre
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Reference: Mytour Travel Handbook
MytourJune 9th, 2016
