Flower Carpet on Brussels Main Square

The flower carpet that is laid out on Brussels’ central Grand Place every two years reopened to the public today. Preparations for the flower festival usually begin one year in advance. Designers develop projects and models to illustrate a particular theme and decide on the number of differently colored begonias that will be used for the event.

More than 100 landscape designers along with volunteers create this gigantic flower picture in less than four hours.

Flowers are laid one at a time close to each other with 300 flowers going into each square meter of the carpet. In all, about 750,000 begonias are used to build the carpet.

Africa is the theme of the 2012 flower carpet. It shows traditional designs and drawings from Ethiopia, Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon and Botswana. This year, the organizers of the festival decided to celebrate the variety of African people, cultures and landscapes.

The best panoramic view of the carpet opens from the city hall’s balcony.

Officially, the first flower carpet in its present form was built on the Grand Place in 1971. It came as a culmination of a series of similar events organized in different cities across the Belgian region of Flanders.

Belgium is recognized as the world's largest producer of begonias. Sixty million of these flowers are cultivated annually near the town of Ghent.

Eighty percent of begonias grown in Belgium are exported. Major importers include the Netherlands, France and the United States.

The flower carpets owe their beauty and longevity (five days) to the famous begonias, which are their main component. Their resistance to heat and rain helps keep the carpet whole and fresh long.

Every night until the end of the festival, visitors will enjoy a colorful light and music performance.