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Entente Florale |
The Entente Florale is an international horticultural competition established to recognise municipalities and villages in Europe for excellence in horticultural displays. Trophies are presented annually by tourist boards and horticultural societies of European countries. There are two categories : "Towns/Cities" (population 10,001 and upwards), and "Villages" (population up to 10,000)1.
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The Entente Florale or International Floral Decoration Competition as it was once officially named2 was founded in 19752, initially as an Anglo-French competition. Entrants now come from nations across Europe. In 2008 there were 12 participating countries, including: the Republic of Ireland; the United Kingdom; France; the Netherlands; Belgium; Germany; Austria; Italy; Slovenia; Croatia; the Czech Republic; and Hungary.
Overall the competition is organised by the "Association Européenne du Fleurissement et du Paysage" ("A.E.F.P."), which is a company, incorporated under Belgian Law(s) supported by the International Association of Horticultural Producers. Each participant country has its own organisation often supported by its own government and /or horticultural bodies and associations.3 The entrants are usually the winners of national competitions, such as Britain in Bloom or Ireland's Irish Tidy Towns Awards competition. Each of the competing nations send a judge to examine the other entrants and decide the winner.
Note re UK representatives - 4
In 2004, Harrogate won the top prize for the Towns and Villages category.
In 2007, the city of Mechelen (Belgium) won the gold medal. The Jury said Mechelen was a "beautifully renovated city, with lovely trees and flowers, which boasts nice buildings and a perfect combination between modern architecture and national heritage" and also commented on Mechelen's clean public places. You can count 236 flower towers, 289 flower boxes, 1,119 flower baskets and 330 boxed plants.
In 2008, Letterkenny represented Ireland. Locally there was a minor furore as all flags of competing nations were displayed in prominent areas of the city, with some difficulty encountered when locals discovered the controversial Union Jack flag hanging from a pole adjacent to the library and Paddy Delap's newsagent. The flag is still upseetting to many people angered by continuing British rule in Northern Ireland and as such led to an intensely heated debate on local radio station Highland Radio 5 6 on the day the judges were in town. The flag was first mounted the previous day (August 7) and had to be taken down when some concerns were raised about its safety on a busy Thursday night. It was remounted the following day.
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