After a COVID-enforced break of six year, the Europa Cup is back.
The 2022 Championship takes place on 26th – 28th August in Katowice, Poland, hosted by the Association of Polish Florists and is expected to attract an enthusiastic audience from across Europe.
More correctly called the European Floristic Championships, the Europa Cup is a high profile competition for professional florists, usually held every four years. Last held in Genoa, Italy in 2016, the competition is overseen by international industry trade body Florint and hosted by a different Florint member nation every time.
With around twenty florists in this year’s competition, standards will be high as each aims to showcase their skill and artistry under exacting conditions. At the heart of the Europa Cup is the desire to share floristry techniques, creativity and innovation between competing nations, pushing the discipline of professional floristry forward and presenting it to the public in the best possible light.
Representing the UK in Katowice will be Caroline Crabb from Fleurtations in Bodmin, Cornwall. Caroline has been a florist for 28 years and has successfully competed in floristry events all around the world, recently coming third in Interflora’s Florist of the Year competition.
Caroline said, "Being in the floral world has introduced me to so many different people. I have travelled to many countries and been blessed with making some very good friends. Without floristry, I would never have met some of these people.”
During two days of competition, Caroline and her fellow competitors will be presented with six separate tasks, all based around the theme of music and dance. Tasks 1, 2 & 3 will take place on Friday 26th August and Tasks 4, 5 & 6 on Saturday 27th August.
Task 1
Subject: Every life has a soundtrack
Description: A table decoration inspired by a song from the competitor’s country.
Task 2
Subject: Dance in the rain
Description: An installation showing the beauty of dance and movement.
Task 3
Subject: Life is much like a song
Description: A bouquet inspired by the song "Espana Forever" by Maanam.
Task 4
Subject: Dancing Queen
Description: A body decoration for a dancer, inspired by a musical recording sent to each competitor in advance of the competition.
Task 5
Description: A music-themed surprise design
Task 6 Grand Finale
Description: A surprise design
Each task is clearly a massive challenge but this is an opportunity for the competitors to demonstrate their cultural distinctiveness and individual style, which will hopefully get them through to the Grande Finale on Saturday evening. Only six competitors will make it through to the Grande Finale, where they will be presented with Task 6, the final, surprise task, before an overall winner is announced.
With renewed interest in floristry competitions after an enforced break, this year’s Europa Cup promises to be a fabulous floral event. We wish Caroline and all of the other competitors the very best of luck – we can’t wait to see their work and meet the winner.
