The eighth spring Flower Festival held on Guadalajara’s Avenida Chapultepec will blossom into life on Friday, March 31 and run through Sunday, March 2.
Organized by Jalisco’s Rural Development Secretary (SEDER), the festival will showcase the extensive range of ornamental flowers now produced in the state.
Floriculture or flower farming – the discipline of horticulture dedicated to the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and floristry – is a growing concern in Jalisco.
The state currently boasts 64 floriculture operations, covering 355 hectares and emceeing 4,675 people, according to SEDER Director Héctor Padillas Gutiérrez. Two large-scale enterprises in Ixtlahuacán del Río and Atoyac are now exporting significant volumes of flowers to the United States, Japan, Germany and the Netherlands, he says.
Around 30 floriculture businesses are expected to show off their blooms at the Guadalajara festival, in addition to 80 regional producers of crafts, candies, liquor, leatherware, ceramics and other merchandise.
Peru is the invited country this year, and Aguascalientes the guest Mexican state.
Visitors can also expect to see several eye-catching, large-size floral arrangements on display, as well as booths promoting Jalisco’s Pueblos Magicos (Magic Towns).
The festival will be held along the wide central divider of Avenida Chapultepec between Avenida La Paz and Avenida Mexico. There is no entry cost.
Lake Chapala area residents can take the opportunity of combining a Sunday trip to see the flower festival together with a visit to the entertaining Trocadero Antiques Market, which runs along a pedestrian section of Avenida Mexico that intersects with the northern end of Chapultepec. The two events will virtually “run into” each other. The Trocadero Market is open from around 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.