The Flower and Plant Festival returns to Baixa on Saturday with flower carpets, gastronomy and entertainment

The Flower and Plant Festival returns to downtown Coimbra next Saturday, May 16th, between 10:00 AM and 6:30 PM, with flower carpets, flower and plant exhibitions, traditional gastronomy, and cultural entertainment throughout the day. Promoted by the Coimbra City Council, the initiative was presented today, May 12th, in the Noble Hall of the City Hall, by the Councillor for Culture, Margarida Mendes Silva, and by Maria Isabel Pina, a member of the Rosas do Mondego Folkloric Group, representing the Coimbra associations involved in the event.

The Flower and Plant Festival will bring together 42 exhibitors in Praça 8 de Maio, Praça do Comércio, and adjacent streets, including nurseries, florists, cultural and recreational associations, IPSS (Private Institutions of Social Solidarity), and other agents linked to green heritage.

In presenting the initiative, Margarida Mendes Silva emphasized that the event aims to draw attention to the importance of plants and flowers in community life and environmental sustainability. The councilwoman also highlighted the creation of flower carpets in various squares and streets of the Baixa (downtown area), made by folkloric and ethnographic groups from the municipality.

The mayor also highlighted the cultural entertainment and traditional gastronomic component as some of the main attractions of the initiative, considering that the event brings traditions and cultural expressions from various localities of the municipality to the city. Margarida Mendes Silva also invited the public to visit downtown Coimbra on Saturday and meet the participating exhibitors, who help preserve practices and memories linked to the rural world.

Floral carpets are the main attraction

The initiative aims to raise public awareness of the importance of plants in environmental conservation, agriculture, and sustainable food production. This edition also highlights the contribution of women to agricultural and food production and the preservation of traditions, within the framework of the International Year of Women in Agriculture celebrations.

The traditional floral carpets, mostly made with natural flowers, are once again one of the main highlights of the initiative and will be distributed throughout various points in the city center, namely: the atrium of the Town Hall, Praça 8 de Maio, the patio of the Church of Santa Cruz, Rua Direita, Rua da Moeda, Rua da Louça, Rua do Corvo, Largo do Poço, Rua dos Sapateiros, Rua das Padeiras, Rua and Largo Paço do Conde, Church of São Tiago, São Bartolomeu stairs, Praça do Comércio and Escadas do Gato. These artistic works are the result of the collaboration of several associations in the municipality, giving the initiative a strong community and intergenerational sense.

Several entertainment events throughout the day

The initiative also includes several entertainment events, notably the recreation of traditions from the Coimbra region, performed by local groups. The ethnographic parade will revive street vendor cries and traditions from bygone eras, along with exhibitors offering traditional gastronomy and sweets in Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square).

The cultural and recreational program will extend throughout the day in the streets of Baixa (downtown). The program kicks off with a performance by the Adriano Soares Philharmonic Band at 10:00 AM, followed by the ethnographic parade from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM. In the afternoon, at 3:00 PM, the group “Capoeira nos Guia” will perform, and at 4:30 PM, the Rebimbómalho Drum Group from the Ateneu de Coimbra will take the stage.

The Flower and Plant Festival features the participation of: Ana Beatriz Temudo (Fonte das Suculentas), Artes das Abelhas, Associação Cultural “Herança do Passado”, Associação Cultural de Vilarinho – Grupo Danças e Cantares, Associação Cultural do Grupo de Concertinas “Sons de Casconha”, Associação de Moradores do Bairro de Santa Clara – Marcha, Associação Desportiva e Recreativa dos Lugares de Casal da Misarela, Misarela, Vale de Canas, Ribeira e Barca (Rancho Folclórico Rosas do Mondego), Associação Recreativa e Cultural – Marcha do Bairro de Celas, Café Sofia, Casa do Sal da Figueira da Foz, Casa dos Pobres de Coimbra, Centro Comunitário de Inserção da Cáritas Diocesana de Coimbra, Centro Social e Cultural 25 de Abril, Confraria das Couves de Castelo Viegas, DBee Mel e Pólen, Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra, Florista “O Girassol”, Grupo Ethnographic Songs and Dances of Assafarge, Ethnographic Group of the Coimbra Region, Folkloric Group Peasants of the Mondego, Folkloric Group of the A.R.C. Cova do Ouro and Serra da Rocha, Folkloric Group of the University of Coimbra Staff Association, Folkloric Group of the Ceira People’s House, Folkloric Group of Coimbra, Folkloric Group of Torre de Bera, Folkloric Group of Brinca-Eiras, Folkloric and Ethnographic Group “As Tecedeiras de Almalaguês”, Folkloric and Ethnographic Group Ceifeiros da Corujeira, Folkloric and Ethnographic Group of the Condeixa People’s House, Folkloric and Ethnographic Group of Arzila, Coimbra Municipal Garden, Irene Lata (Nursery Owner), Leonel Alexandre Rodrigues (Nursery Owner), O Regaço, Quinta do Zorro, Rancho Folclórico Camponeses de Montessão, Rancho Folclórico e Etnográfico “As Moleirinhas de Casconha”, Rancho Folclórico Rosas da Amoreira (G.C.R.D. da Amoreira), Rancho Típico da Palheira, Rancho Típico de Vila Nova, Rosa Alves (Organic Products) and Tenda da Avó Madalena.