Colorful Lochristi Begonia flower Festival

August 2016. Colorful art installation created entirely from begonias. Traditional Lochristi Begonia flower Festival
Colorful Lochristi Begonia flower Festival
Undoubtedly, Lochristi Begonia Festival, which takes place last weekend in August is worth visiting. A colorful celebration is, in fact, a tribute to the national flower of Belgium, held in Lochristi (six miles from Ghent). They say, 30 to 33 million flowering tubers grow each year on more than 400 acres. For the festival, residents create enormous three-dimensional floral installations for a parade of flower-decked floats. In addition, each year they depict a different theme. For example, the world’s favorite fairy tales. Colorful arrangements of millions of yellow, red, orange, and white blossoms on beds of sand turn the town’s main street into a carpet of flowered pictures.
Also, other events are band concerts and tours to the begonia fields. However, the tuberous begonia was originally a tropical plant. It takes its name from Michel Begon, a French amateur botanist who was an administrator in the West Indies at the time of Louis XIV. Then the plant appeared in England in 1777, and soon in Belgium. So, the Belgians began cultivating the begonia in the middle of the 19th century.
Because the commercial value of the begonias comes from their tubers, or underground stems, the farmers of Lochristi discarded the blossoms before the festival was begun in 1946 and put them to good use.
The main attraction of the Begonia Festival are carpets, sculptural compositions and even large watches made of begonia. Meanwhile, the producers saw in this initiative an ideal opportunity to promote their flowers. Fortunately, begun in 1951 idea quickly evolved into a successful festival with countless visitors.
Colorful Lochristi Begonia flower Festival
- 1952 photo. Lochristi Begonia Colorful Festival
- 1960s photo of Lochristi Begonia Festival
- Beautiful flower painting
- Begonia flowers art installation
- Begonia flowers of varios colors as a material for creating stunning pictures
- Bright and colorful begonia flowers art installation
- Carpets of flower paintings and patterns
- Classroom painting created from begonia flowers of various colors
- Closeup. Flower installation
- Colorful Lochristi begonia painting. Belgium
- Composition of vegetables and begonia flowers during festival in Lochristi of Belgium
- Cyclists flower painting
- Giant paintings, created entirely from begonia flowers
- Large scale paintings from flowers, exclusively begonia
- Lochristi begonia picture
- Old traditional festival in Lochristi of Belgium. Giant paintings, created entirely from begonia flowers
- One of beautiful flower installation during the traditional festival in Lochristi of Belgium
- Painting from flowers of begonia
- Patterns of flower painting
- Red and yellow colorful flower installation in Lochristi of Belgium
- Stunning flower painting of begonia of various colors
- The fields with growing begonia
- The whole street decorated with flower paintings
- Tourists and locals looking at the colorful painting created from flowers
- Traditional flower paintings in Lochristi of Belgium
- Visitors admiring flower paintings
- Yellow and red begonia art installation
Photo by Sonja de Baets (facebook.com/sonja.debaets.10) and Willem Van Cotthem (facebook.com/willem.vancotthem)