Photo Credit: LEAF Flower FestivalInspired by the Chelsea Flower Show in London and Tulip Festival Amsterdam, L.E.A.F., a festival of flowers that celebrates floral design will be held this Saturday and Sunday throughout the Meatpacking District. Count on being amazed by nearly 50 flower installations, a European-style flower market at Gansevoort Plaza, and partnerships with neighborhood retailers.
Five years in the making the event will attract over 100 florists, mostly from the metropolitan area, who will cover the Meatpacking District with more than a million flowers. Gansevoort Plaza, a new public square, will morph into a European-style flower market, with 25 floral pillars, or plinths, each over six feet high. Surrounding retail and restaurants in the district plan to activate in a way to support the endeavor. From DVF to Dante to Hermes, the local mainstays will feature blooming installations on the premises. Floral fans will enjoy artistic floral installations at such places as in front of the Whitney Museum of American Art, around Chelsea Market, and around surprising and unexpected corners, where the power of flowers will transform the area with stunning results.
Photo Credit: Kate Hazell
This year the festival will be free, but in the future L.E.A.F will be for-profit, with ticketed lectures, master classes and parties. Florists will not be charged to sell from the market, and there will also be a program connecting florists to retailers seeking in-house displays.
To keep the festival on theme and as sustainable as possible, L.E.A.F. is partnering with the Hudson River Park Trust to compost all the flowers and structures built for this year’s event will be saved for reuse. Sadly, the organic transformation will last for only two days but L.E.A.F.’s organizers hope the event will leave a lasting impression.
