Brussels flower carpet: 50th anniversary of world-famous event opens under scorching sun

As the heat rose, the workers pushed on, meticulously and swiftly placing petals, begonia blooms and pot plants onto the giant design covering the medieval cobbles of Brussels’ Grand Place.

Teams of volunteers, chattering in Flemish, French and Spanish - many hail from Mexico -  laboured over boxes filled with blooms as growing crowds of spectators looked on.

They had started the large-scale operation on Friday at 9.00, ahead of the public unveiling in the afternoon. After a four year absence due to the pandemic, global attention has only grown.

For the 50th anniversary of Brussels’ internationally-renowned floral carpet, organisers decided to honour the original 1971 theme of Arabesques. But their main challenge is the unremitting searing heat.

After successive heatwaves blistering Belgium and much of Europe, the ephemeral display of some 400,000 blooms needs to survive four days of scorching sunshine.

The design has been adapted to incorporate bark paths to enable daily watering of potted dahlias and chrysanthemum, the strewn petals too fragile to withstand any heavy dousing.

But will this be enough to prevent the blooms prematurely withering and wilting?

"It's true that the conditions are not at all ideal for the flowers, but we have nevertheless taken precautions by playing with a few other materials and we are also going to put more flowers, including a small part of flowers in pots," the flower association’s spokesperson Karel Goethals told RTBF.

With thousands of visitors descending on Brussels over the long weekend, the non-profit will be keeping a close eye on the weather forecast as rain showers and storms could also damage the delicate flowers.

Helping hands

With only hours to assemble the enormous carpet, volunteers worked quickly and deftly. It was Evelyn’s fifth time helping her sister and brother-in-law, both begonia growers. The effort of laying the flowers in an overlapping pattern was easier than the back-breaking task the previous day picking them.

“There’s a plastic map on the ground with lines and numbers painted on it; we have to lay the flowers a bit like roof tiles, which means that each flower is a bit over the next one.”

As volunteers bring the carpet to life, Filip Fontaine, chief executive of VLAM, the Flemish agricultural marketing board described one of the carpet’s new features. “The begonia is our most cherished product, as important to Belgium as the tulip is to the Netherlands, but as the world’s seventh largest exporter of flowers we grow a wide variety of flowers.

“For the first time, there will be living plants integrated into the design. After the event we will donate them to the city of Brussels, which will be able to reuse them  in their parks or wherever they can find a nice spot.”

Reinterpretation of original design

Ana Rosa Aguilar Aguado, who goes by the nickname Roo (pictured above), is a Mexican artist who designed the carpet four years ago. For the 2022 edition, she collaborated with Koen Vondenbusch, who boasts nearly 30 years’ experience with the local tradition.

While directing her team during the installation, she explained that the biggest challenge was updating the original design: “When I did the carpet four years ago it was an illustration of my culture, but with this reimagining of the original carpet, it was a crash course in Belgian culture.”

She worked closely with Vondenbusch to become familiar with the arabesque shapes. “We spent almost 200 hours developing our design, which I hope will please the public.”

Roo was less worried about the heatwave affecting the carpet. “With the bright sun all the colours in the carpet are magnified.”

Bonus carpet display

An extra bonus for carpet aficionados is a special jubilee project on display in the city hall’s wedding room. It’s a gift from the international committee for ephemeral carpet makers. Chair Vicenta Pallarès Castelló explains: “Six countries each contributed five carpet makers who all came to Brussels to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the carpet. It includes a major symbol of Brussels, the Atomium, but with just six spheres, one for each country.”

Flower carpet
Until 15 August, free entry to Grand Place
21.30-23.00, sound and light show (every 15 minutes)
13-15 Aug, 10.00-22.00, view the carpet from city hall balcony (tickets €7; book online)

Photos: courtesy Brussels Flower Carpet and Sarah Crew