Flowers are everywhere in Madeira. This island has a perfect climate, warmed by Atlantic currents in the winter and cooled by trade winds in summer. This island celebrates flowers, friendship, food and the art of life every April. The town puts out carpets of flowers for visitors and residents to enjoy. Patterns and paintings done only with flowers run down the center of the cobblestone sidewalks.
Plants, bulbs, and seeds are offered for sale. A competition of the best of flower varieties displays the winners. Floral art is celebrated and created while you watch.
The weeklong event is highlighted by the parade of flowers. Many floats decorated with flowers and filled with children roll down the street.
It seems ever young woman and little girl dances in the parade. Costumes imitate flowers, purple iris, daisy, lilies, and more. The dancers wear flowers in their hair, at their waist, on the dresses, around their wrists, around their ankles. Fresh flowers, so many parade by you imagine there could be none left growing on the island.
Children are celebrated along with the flowers as they create a “Wall of hope” parading in single file each carrying a blossom to place into a wall of greenery. In one moment in one garden jacaranda, mimosa, orchid, & bottle brush trees were blooming. Begonias, amaryllis, nicotina, purple heart, canna, wedelia, bougainvillea, challis vine, marigolds, roses, daisies, osteospermun, hollyhock and more flowered.
Flowers a beautiful object, a sign of potential harvest, a symbol of hope for a tomorrow in this place, is certainly worthy of celebration.