Yesterday was the main highlight of the traditional Flower Festival of Funchal, the parade of flower. More than 1000 of participants, mainly children, covered with the most beautiful flowers parading the streets of Funchal.
And as I am man of few words … let the pictures tell you how beautiful it was.
(Update 2006-05-01)
I saw more than hundred photographers walking yesterday around capturing the flower festival with their cameras and I was wondering how many of them will put it (also) online?
You could not be present on this year’s 52nd edition of the breathtaking Festa da Flor da Madeira (Flower Show) in Funchal?
Well, here is a small consolation … YouTube member ‘correcaminhos’ (which means ‘roadrunner’) was the first to publish a (7 minutes) video of the flower parade on the web.
The theme chosen for this year was “From the Madeira Islands – A Flower for Peaceâ€, and it involved 1200 participants and the following 8 groups:
- João EgÃdio
- Chico & Companhia
- Veteranos da Folia
- Fábrica de Sonhos
- Escola de Samba Caneca Furada
- Associação de Animação Geringonça
- Turma do Funil
- Isabel Borges
Enjoy the after-flower display …
Click twice on the arrow in the image to start the video. If this does not work, then go here to visit the corresponding YouTube page.
Preparations are taking place in Funchal (Madeira) for the Flower Festival, that will take place from 5 to 6 April. The goal will be to exceed the success of the street parade …. exhibiting and perfuming the air of Funchal with a multiplicity of floral species of the island. Gathering thousands of children on the Praça do MunicÃpio where they will build the “Wall of Hope†with flowers. And much more.
But the island itself already has started early this year with its own preparations. Nature has its own agenda and (luckly) does not wait for human beings. Flowers are having their debut in the Laurisilva and other regions.
A new blog called Madeira Walking has captured a few of these flora-princesses and put them on a slideshow. Pictures taken by (levada)walkers when hiking through the veins of the island. So for those who cannot wait for the festival or could not book a trip to Madeira on time …. just enjoy the from following images.
A incredible and great effort is done by everyone to restore Funchal and the rest of the island back to what it was. However I think we should also focus our attention to all the victims and those who lost their lives.
Since the authorities objective is to make sure that the Flower Festival will take place this year …. I would suggest to dedicate the 2010 festival to all victims of 20-2.
Also to honor all the rescue teams, police, firemen, army, navy, emergency personnel, civilian workers and all others who helped to restore the areas affected by flooding. The real Heroes of Madeira. Honoring all of them in this year Flower Festival.
What do you think?
As I am only an individual … I am not the one that makes the decisions … but I hope that someone can take this suggestion to make it happen.
The festivities begin on Thursday 15 April with the opening of the Flower Market in the Central Square of Avenida Arriaga, the Flower Exhibition at Largo da Restauração and the construction of delicate floral carpets along the main streets of Funchal.
On Saturday morning, thousands of youngsters will take part in the Children Parade, each carrying a flower to place in a mural known as the “Wall of Hope”, located in Praça do Município. Doves will be released to mark the end of the wall’s construction and there will also be a show for the children.
Sunday brings another dazzling event: the Grand Flower Parade. Hundreds of flower-themed floats and characters will make their way through the city in lavish style to the sound of music in keeping with the Festival, displaying arrangements of many different species of flower typical to the island and leaving soft and ephemeral perfumes in their wake.
The Flower Festival, one of the Islands’ most colorful celebrations, is more than just a tribute to the flowers of the Madeira Islands. It provides the opportunity to keep genuine Madeiran traditions alive and transforms the city of Funchal, for a few days, into a magnificent stage for all kinds of artistic and cultural expression.
This iconic tourist festival will be celebrated by its locals with a special feeling as this is considered to be a decisive turning point for the Archipelagos rebirth since the storm of February 20th.
Enjoy the wonderful collection of photos taken by Tobi Hughes of this years Madeira Flower Festival (Funchal). Especially for those who could not be here, we hope that, at least, you can enjoy watching these beautiful images and we hope that next time you will be present here on Madeira.
The theme “The flower that I chose” sets the tone for the Flower Festival of Madeira, which this year is celebrated in the peak of spring. Historically, the flowers are a fundamental feature of the landscape of Madeira.
The island’s mild climate allows a variety of flowers to bloom everywhere, which naturally enchant for the beauty they emanate and the scent they exhale. It is in this unique setting that, once again, the city of Funchal is the stage for a sumptuous display that takes place between the 5th and 8th of May, during which the flower plays its most important role.
The highlight is the Flower Parade, which takes place on May 8th, at 4 pm, with several groups of over a thousand participants who, bearing costumes depicting flowers, dancing to the sound of exquisitely selected music, through the main arteries of the city, along with fantastic floats, beautifully decorated with many different varieties of flowers of Madeira.
On the morning of Saturday May 7th, thousands of children participate in the Children’s Parade, beginning at Avenida Arriaga, passing through Avenida Zarco, and arriving at the Town Hall Square to symbolically place their flower on the so-called “Wall of Hope”, in an appeal for world peace. The wall set up ends with a release of pigeons and a children’s show.
Starting on May 5th, all attentions are drawn to the central area of Avenida Arriaga, where the Flower Market lends to the downtown area a frenetic pulse of flower selling. Sculptures of flowers made by young people who interact and invite tourists to participate and to register unique images of this event, do justice to the well-known hospitality that characterizes the people of Madeira.
Besides the Flower Exhibition, the art of the construction of the floral carpets will be open to the public until May 10th, at the ‘Largo da Restauração’, which is also a major attraction for those who visit us. To brighten-up this great Feast of Madeira, there will be constant animation, with the participation of folk and ethnographic groups who, with traditional music and dance, will present the traditions, habits and customs of Madeira.
With the arrival of spring, the city of Funchal turns into a inebriating floral stage filled with enchantment.
The magic of this event starts on Saturday morning, with the Children’s Parade, on which, hundreds of children dressed for the occasion event to the Municipio Square where a beautiful flower mural is built, that is symbolically named “The Wall of Hope” (Muro da Esperança).
On Sunday afternoon, the streets of downtown Funchal will be filled with music, colour and soft aromas, through the sumptuous parade comprised by several floats, which harmoniously combine numerous flower species with blooming decorations full of creativity.
Alongside these events takes place a set of playful and recreational activities filled with charm and symbolism, such as, the construction of delicate floral carpets of unrivaled beauty along the main streets of Funchal, as well as musical concerts, folklore performances from Regional groups, shop window ornamentation and the Flower Exhibition in the Largo da Restauração.
Madeira Flower Festival 19th and 25th April – Entertainment in downtown Funchal
21st April – The Wall of Hope Ceremony
22nd April – Great Allegoric Parade
Every year, two weeks after Easter, Madeira’s flower-festival comes alive on the main streets of Funchal’s centre with floats displaying a myriad of colourful flowers. This is one of the biggest celebrations in Madeira Island. On the Sunday a large parade of flower-decked cars get privileged use of the main street in Funchal … accompanied by over thousands of participants – girls, boys, men and women – dressed up as a flower.
On the eve before the street parade, thousands of children visit the Praça do Município where they build a “Wall of Hope”, made of thousands of flowers. The city gets a complete makeover with flower carpets in the streets, folklore performances, flower shows, classical music concerts and variety shows. A truly beautiful sight that redefines the expression ‘Flower Power’.
The origins of the Flower Festival date back to the “Ball of the Rose” festival, organized in 1955 for the first time by the Ateneu Comercial do Funchal. That event in those days was characterized by a ball that marked the beginning of spring and included an exhibition-contest of flowers.
In 1979 the first Madeira Flower Festival took place, and it found its way to enhance the value of the flower as a promotion factor for the tourism of Madeira. It became a beautiful outdoor event in which it gave the opportunity to the Madeiran people to manifest their creativity.
Madeira Flower Festival - Festa da Flor - @Madeira #sharingmadeira #madeiraful Click To Tweet
Also in 1979, International Year of Children, in order to boost the event, the organisation included the tradition of the children walk to the Town Square and building the “Wall of Hope”.
This is one of the many moments in the year that one can experience the colourful outstanding beauty of Madeira, already renowned for its spectacular nature, its rich culture and honest hospitality of its people.
