When is it? Floriade is held during the summer in the Netherlands once every 10 years. The last one was held in 2002 and the next one will be in 2012.

Ticketing? Ticket prices aren’t posted yet.

Indoors/Outdoors,  Facility?  Outside with Marquees built for the occasion. Floriade is an international exhibition of flowers and gardening, held every 10 years in The Netherlands. The location varies:

• 1960 – Rotterdam (Het Park)
• 1972 – Amsterdam (Amstelpark)
• 1982 – Amsterdam (Gaasperplas)
• 1992 – The Hague/Zoetermeer (Rokkeveen-West)
• 2002 – Haarlemmermeer (Haarlemmermeerse Bos/De Groene Weelde)

The next event is to be held:

• 2012 – Venlo: With the theme “Be part of the theatre in nature; get closer to the quality of life“.

The terrain chosen for the upcoming event also differs from previous events, being located in the South-Eastern quarter of the country, and not on drained land to the West.

Size?

• Duration: 180 days
• Period: April – October 2012
• Surface area: 66 hectares, of which 40 hectares of exhibition site
• At least 2 million visitors
• 90 Dutch exhibitors
• 25 international exhibitors
• Parking capacity 4500 and 200 touring cars
• Theme: ‘Be part of the theatre in nature; get closer to the quality of life!’
• Subthemes: Relax & heal, Green Engine, education & Innovation, Environment and World Show Stage

Organizer? Every ten years a new organization is founded for the organization of the Floriade. The traditional originator however is the Dutch Horticulture Council. In 2004 the Region Venlo has submitted an official petition, a bidbook. This petition met all the requirements and made Region Venlo the second originator of the Floriade 2012.

History?  A good general discussion on the history of the Floriade can be found in Grounds for Review: The Garden Festival in Urban Planning and Design” by Andrew Theokas. The Floriade is a World Horticulture Fair. World Fairs are major international exhibitions that have taken place in various countries since 1851. They give nations the opportunity to sketch out a picture of their economic, social, cultural and technical development. A building or a work of art is often left behind, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Atomium in Brussels.

Responses to the show…My own opinion of the show – if I have been there…reviews, blog comments…whatever I can find from people who have actually attended or participated: I went to the 2002 show.  I have to say I didn’t find the show overly exciting.  The site was too big and too open and to me didn’t seem to cocoon like a garden should.  There was no sense of continuity in the show either.   It all felt very plopped down in the middle of no-where and while a lot of effort went in to it there seemed to be just lots of elements that didn’t really come together for me.  – So that is my review…not that great…but I have to make a caveat to this review…there may have been no way that I would have enjoyed my Floriade day.  I was about 5 months pregnant, and my husband and I rented bikes to ride to the show (which was much further away from Amsterdam than it appears).  Our ride to the show seems to take an eternity and the thought of the ride back was making me a very unenthusiastic attendee. 

Here are some differing opinions and some images from 2002.

1. Tree, 2. Flowerbeds, 3. Crayons, 4. Floriade From Above, 5. Floriade, 6. Floriade, 7. Den Haag (Zoetermeer)- Sample of Madurodam at Floriade, 8. Floriade 2002, 9. Floriade 2002, 10. Floriade 2002, 11. Floriade 2002, 12. Floriade 2002, 13. Floriade 2002, 14. Floriade 2002, 15. Floriade 2002