For three sunny days, the city of Katowice was the ‘World Capital of Floral Art’! Florint’s EUROPA CUP 2022 turned the lively Polish city into the place to be for flower lovers, as Hanneke Frankema from The Netherlands claimed first prize in the floristry championship.
Witnessing world-class floristry talent
The EUROPA CUP brought an enormous group of gifted floral arrangers together, as is tradition. 16 flag-waving master florists proudly represented their countries in the European Floristry Championship 2022. They competed over the course of six music-inspired arrangement challenges, which included a table design, a hand-tied bouquet, a floral body decoration for a dancer and a thematic installation: “Dance in the Rain”.
Meanwhile on the main stage, other first-class florists delighted the public with stellar flower shows. On ‘Professional’s Day’ (August 26) the Latin-American floristry education collective EIAF performed, as did Floral Fundamentals and two leading Polish stars: Zygmunt Sieradzan and Tomasz Max Kuczyński.
Later in the evening, renowned German master Klaus Wagener impressed the crowd with his spectacular main show, titled ‘Time Transition in Floristry’.
Floral fun for the whole family
Saturday, August 27, catered more to the public rather than professionals. The entry hall presented an exhibition of flower arrangements from ‘4 sides of the world’, while Polish fashion models paraded around the venue in the most exquisite floral dresses.
Children were treated to fun floristry workshops and mini shows, and everyone marveled at the competitors putting their superb arrangements together in their booths. It was truly a privilege to see such artistry live!
Exquisite floral couture
Alongside this festival of flower art, florists could participate in business seminars by OZ Export, Centrum Florystyczne Rekpol, JMP Flowers and Smithers–Oasis®. These are the four main sponsors that backed the EUROPA CUP 2022 through years of uncertainty, and helped make it a tremendous success. For that dedication, they deserve immense praise.
Winners of the EUROPA CUP 2022
Six of the initial 16 competitors made it to the finals, based on the scoring of their first five arrangements by the professional Florint-certified championship jury. These six finalists were Michael Liebrich (DE), Stefan van Berlo (BE), Gábor Nagy (HU), Hanneke Frankema (NL), Fabrizio Panone (IT) and Nicu Bocancea (RO).
During the evening Gala Award Ceremony, the finalists had to complete a last surprise vase arrangement live on stage – utilizing lots of bold tropical flowers, and all the inspiration they had left. As the jury deliberated backstage, the guests were treated to dinner and a breathtaking choreography of music, acrobatics, ballet, and UV body paint by art collective Wataha Drums. You really must see it to believe it!
Jury President Thomas Ratschker returned to the stage with the all-important ‘golden envelope’, and handed it to Björn Kroner, the Master of Ceremony. After keeping up the suspense for just a second or two longer, he and his female Polish colleague announced the final winners:
- 1st place, and the EUROPA CUP 2022 CHAMPION: Hanneke Frankema from The Netherlands
- 2nd place and EUROPA CUP 2022 Runner-up: Gábor Nagy from Hungary
- 3rd place and EUROPA CUP 2022 Bronze Medalist: Michael Liebrich from Germany
To view the complete final score sheet of the EUROPA CUP 2022, please click here.
From left to right: winners Gábor, Hanneke & Michael
Watch the Footage Online
A professional livestream of all the stunning flower shows from EUROPA CUP was directly available online for a small fee, via europacup222.ppv-stream.pl. These broadcasts will continue to be available for about another month. So, if you missed the event, this is your chance to still enjoy all that floral artistry at a distance!
You can also view many more photos and video from the EUROPA CUP 2022 on Facebook:
- Highlight Video Day 1
- Highlight Video Day 2
- Highlight Videos Day 3
- The International EUROPA CUP community page
- Or the Polish EUROPA CUP community page
Why we promote floral craftsmanship
The floristry sector has a vast reservoir of artistic talent. At Florint, we believe this potential deserves a big, international stage. Because flowers, by nature, convey emotions and bring happiness to people. And professional florists capture that joy and wonder in their arrangement work. There is no better promotion for our industry.
Additionally, competition amongst friends stimulates innovation and knowledge exchange. This is equally vital. It is for those reasons that International Florist Organisation, together with its members and like-minded partners, organizes a monumental floral art championship every two years.
We hope the EUROPA CUP 2022, organised by Florint and the Polish Florist Association SFP, brought you joy –whether up close or at a distance! And we wholeheartedly thank everyone who helped make this championship possible.
Please join us in August 2023 to celebrate EUROFLEURS 2023, our European Championship for Young Florists, at the historic Arboretum Volčji Potok park in Slovenia. It promises to be equally mesmerizing, but will be in an amazing outdoor environment instead.
And don’t forget to save August 26-31 of 2025 in your agenda, when our EUROPA CUP championship returns – in the form of the spectacular Florint World Championship in Floral Art 2025 in The Hague!
The images in this press release come courtesy of the Organisers of the EUROPA CUP 2022, the Polish Florist Association SFP, and photographer Frank Tomlinson.
Additional Photo credit: Polish Florist Association SFP
