BRUSSELS FLOWER CARPET

In Best Sights Brussels

Last Sunday I crossed a major item off my bucket list: the Brussels Flower Carpet. It was as impressive as I imagined and nothing proved capable of ruining my special moment, not even the first raindrops just minutes after I arrived. I stood there feeling blessed, renewed my vows of love with Brussels and managed to get a few snapshots before running away from the heavy rain.

The tapis de fleurs or bloementapijt, in French and Dutch respectively, is one of the city’s most famous attractions as every two years the beautiful Grand Place gets covered with a sea of colorful flowers only for a few days. The tradition dates back to 1971 when landscape architect Etienne Stautemans created a flower carpet in the heart of Brussels in an effort to advertise his work. Ever since the city has seen 19 different designs, all made with thousands of begonias cultivated specially for the event and placed directly onto the cobblestones without soil. This year the 18000 sq. m. flower carpet was set up to recreate patterns found in a Turkish kilim to pay tribute to the Turkish immigrants who arrived in Belgium following a bilateral convention signed 50 years ago.

Even in the evening of the very last day the colours of the carpet were still vivid and its texture looked so fresh that reminded me of velvet. Access to the Grand Place is typically free but you can also buy tickets for a panoramic view from the balcony of the City Hall. The next edition will take place in 2016, so make sure to plan your holidays accordingly – this is something absolutely worth seeing even once in your life!