Brussels is well known for its delicious handmade chocolate but not many know that it also hosts flower carpet event every two years in the heart of the city, Grand Place! I visited Brussels on 18th August 2018, just in time for the flower carpet event in year 2018 (16 – 19th August).
I highly recommend viewing the flower carpet from the balcony of Brussels City Hall, as this is the best view point to take pictures.
Opening time of the City Hall balcony for panoramic view on the carpet:
16 August, 1.00-6.00 p.m. (last admission: 5.30 p.m.);
17-19 August, 10.00 a.m.-10.00 p.m. (last admission: 9.30 p.m.)
Admission fee: € 5.00 in presale, € 6.00 at the entrance (free for children under 10)
Where to buy the ticket?
1) On presale on this website and in Visit Brussels tourist information points (tickets with priority admission without queuing)
2) On sale at the entrance on the day of your visit (tickets with standard admission)
The presale ticket is not only cheaper by € 1, it will also grant you entrance by express lane where the queue is much shorter. Therefore, it is best to book the presale tickets before it is sold out.Unfortunately, in my case, the presale tickets were sold out. So the only option I had is to buy it on the day of my visit.
Passed by a few lavishly decorated rooms in the City Hall before I got to the balcony.
And finally, I was rewarded with this incredible view!
If you arrive on the first day of the festival (16 August), you will be able to see how the flower carpet is being composed by about 100 volunteers from 8am to 3pm.
The 2018 theme of the flower carpet is Mexico. The Flower Carpet is dedicated to Guanajuato, a Mexican region with a particularly rich floral culture and tradition.
Panoramic view of the flower carpet. The carpet measures 77 m x 24 m in area.
The building of the City Hall is equally stunning.
People taking selfies and pictures at the balcony.
Whatcha looking at?
Everyone had their turn to take photos and the line moved quickly and orderly.
People lining up to wait for their turn at the balcony.
Viewing of the flower carpet on the ground.
Grand Place is also celebrating the 20th anniversary that it becoming a Unesco World Heritage site.
Belgium is the world’s largest producer of begonias. The flowers used for the flower carpet is begonias.
Around 300 flowers are needed per square meter, meaning there is over 500,000 flowers in total. It is truly an amazing feat to compose the flower carpet in less that eight hours.
It was packed with people whether it was on the balcony of City Hall or on the ground.
I explored the city afterwards before coming back to the Grand Place for the Sound and Light show which started from 9.30pm – 11pm. The square was super-crowded in the evening. Everyone was waiting for the Sound and Light show to start.
At 9.30pm sharp, the show started. The music was Mexico-themed as well. The show was truly enchanting. The City Hall looked very much like a fairytale castle to me.
My evening in Brussels ended on a perfect note thanks to this.
I woke up early in the next morning to take pictures of the Grand Place which was virtually empty. This is the best time to take selfies at the square minus the crowd in the background.
It was the last day of Brussels Flower Carpet Festival and I didn’t want to miss a single thing.
The next flower carpet festival will be only held in year 2020. So if you missed the boat last year, you’ll have to wait till next year. I’m so stroked to have witnessed the event during my first visit to Brussels.
Brussels City Hall
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