Euroflora: 60 years and counting (the first edition was held in 1966). Euroflora is the only Italian plant and flower show among those recognized in Europe by AIPH – International Association of Horticultural Producers. From April 24 to May 4, 2025, Genoa will once more be pervaded by its magic.
The event is organized by Porto Antico di Genova Spa in cooperation with Genoa Municipality, the Liguria Region, and Genoa’s Chamber of Commerce. Following the 2018 and 2022 editions held in the Parks and Museums of Nervi, in 2025, Euroflora will be back to its original venue, the former fair and exhibition center, which is currently undergoing extensive urban regeneration works based on a project by Genoa-born architect Renzo Piano. Participation in the flower show is open to individual companies as well as Italian and foreign production districts, regional collectives, municipalities (which are currently making considerable investments to reclaim urban green spaces, also meant as places that enhance social interactions), institutional bodies, universities, professional schools, and research centers, designers and master florists.
“With every new edition – stated Mauro Ferrando, the Chairman of Porto Antico di Genova Spa, during today’s press conference – Euroflora is reborn in a new contemporary key, always capable of meeting the needs of the floriculture and nursery gardening sector through wonderful installations and innovative solutions. Euroflora promotes a healthier and more aware lifestyle and use of plants and flowers, including in particularly challenging environmental conditions and unconventional locations, to bring nature back into our daily life”. The 2025 edition will travel ‘back to the future,’ returning Euroflora to its original location, now extensively renovated in both form and content.
The exhibition spaces
The new Eastern Waterfront will still include several locations designed to host trade fairs and exhibitions. This means that Euroflora will extend over a wide range of spaces facing the sea, ideal for displaying all possible kinds of products – from nursery plants to flowering ones, from cut flowers and flower arrangements to Bonsai collections and original installations by different designers. Cutting-edge technical solutions for gardens will also be showcased, focusing on water saving and the selection of plants that will fit every garden’s specific environmental and climatic conditions. Not to mention the unique beauty of trees and shrubs. The ‘reborn’ Euroflora will welcome visitors to the new thirty-thousand-square-meter urban park, lead them to admire the spectacular cylinder inside the Palasport Pavilion, continue in the outdoor areas by the sea, and then along a floating path consisting of 51 pontoons installed in the docks, and finally reach the large Jean Nouvel Pavilion, totaling an area equivalent to nearly 14 football fields.
Flower arrangements, cut flowers, bonsais, and the Green Market
Thanks to the new layout, these tree sections will have available the generous exhibition areas on the upper floor of the Jean Nouvel Pavilion, large enough to also host the Green Market. Here, visitors will not only be able to buy plants and flowers but also find gardening equipment and tools, outdoor furniture and furnishings, and business services.
The project
Euroflora’s architectural project – designed by architect Matteo Fraschini representing URGES – Gruppo Valagussa – is unprecedented in both form and substance and revolves around the idea of nature gradually reclaiming urban spaces.
The exhibition will unravel as a constant dialogue with art that will engage all the senses. Several highly symbolic elements taking inspiration from the Masters of Contemporary Art, such as the Cretto di Burri (crack of Burri) and Pollock’s drip painting technique, will outline the macro layout of the display while also drawing the public’s attention to contemporary issues like water scarcity, the interaction between natural and built landscapes, and the need for a simpler and more natural lifestyle.
The project concept underscores the importance of soil as the element representing Man’s primordial interaction with nature, the one we stand and live upon, and the one connecting water and the sky. Its tactile qualities make it a living, pliable, and amazing resource, an element that should be known and experienced through our sight and touch. Soil is a thick surface which man interacts with – the meeting point between natural and artificial resources and between nature and man’s activity. Such is the Italian, European, and Mediterranean landscape.
The concept of soil as a ductile, workable surface is visually expressed by a series of sculptures in the form of large-sized Origamis – representations of a simple, day-to-day activity that can become a form of art. Their function in the general layout is that of landmarks identifying the core themes of the various exhibition areas and thereby helping visitors find their way around the show.
The deep interaction between man and nature can also be found in the many arenas set up along the entire exhibition itinerary, which are meant as places to share knowledge and grow as a community.
Sustainability, aiming at the ISO 20121 certification
Euroflora has always been a ‘green’ event by definition, as the natural outcome of a clear choice and of its history. For several years now, Euroflora has been committed to maximizing separate waste collection, considerably reducing the use of plastic and plastic-derived materials in both exhibition and refreshment areas, and using FCP paper for advertising materials while also relying more on online communication channels.
Porto Antico di Genova is now aiming to be certified to standard ISO 20121, the international standard for sustainable event management. The use of public transport to reach the Show venue will be maximized, making available parking places exclusively for service vehicles and visitors with disabilities.
The Italian market
Despite the currently uncertain international political scenario, Italy’s floriculture and nursery gardening sector has witnessed a positive trend over the last few years, exceeding €3 billion in production value in 2022 thanks to the work of over 17,000 companies and 45,000 hectares of cropped land (data provided by the Italian Statistical Institute, ISTAT).
Italy is the second European exporter of horticultural and flower products, with exports topping €1.2 billion (a new record) in value and an upward trend in production that ensures a positive trade balance.
The international scenario and the role of Flower Shows and Expos
“From 1960 to date, AIPH, the International Association of Horticultural Producers, has approved over 50 international horticultural shows”, highlighted President Leonardo Capitanio in his speech. These events held all over the world, have been visited by tens of millions of people and attended by leading floriculturists and nursery gardeners from across the globe. In an increasingly urbanized planet tackling climate change, Expos highlights that plants and natural landscapes can help cities adapt to change and remain liveable in the future. Every Expo is dedicated to a specific topic and is meant to hand down a carefully chosen heritage. “Expos – added Mr Capitanio – can play a role in the regeneration of whole city districts, creating parks and radically changing the way people enjoy and interact with nature. Euroflora has always significantly contributed to the development of international horticultural shows and has become globally popular for its original trend-setting exhibits and its commitment to pursuing AIPH’s goals as ‘the world’s champion for the power of plants.’ AIPH is proud of having approved Euroflora 2025 and can’t wait to see it flourish even more in the future.”
Euroflora – regulations and competitions
In accordance with AIPH’s international regulations, exhibitors are assigned exhibition areas for free as well as a given amount – depending on the occupied area – of raw materials like peat, sand, and grass carpet. A vital part of the show is competitions, open to all exhibitors: being the winner is surely a source of great pride and prestige. Competitions are divided into honorary, design, and technical competitions. The first category, dedicated to foreign countries and to regions, awards individual or collective displays in the various exhibition spaces. The design competitions reward the beauty, originality, and artistic presentation of the plants on display, while the technical competitions assess the quality, vigor, and novelty of the flowers, plants, and trees on show. There will also be a specific competition to award those displays which are best maintained throughout the event.
The members of the jury (more than 120 this year) are selected with the utmost transparency from among highly qualified figures in the fields of botany, agronomy, landscape design, composition and art. A dedicated section of the website will introduce the judges to the general public.
New trends
A special competition targeted at designers, organized in cooperation with sector professional registers and associations, will be announced over the next few weeks on Euroflora’s website. Being able to rely on larger exhibition grounds than in the past allowed the organizers to double the areas available for the competition: 10 of them will be reserved for designers under the age of 30, and another 10 for participants above 30.
Euroflora’s B2B initiatives
Following the success of 2022, Euroflora’s cooperation with Agenzia ICE (Italian Trade & Investment Agency) will grow stronger in 2025, welcoming over 60 top buyers from mature markets, Eastern Europe, the Adriatic region, and the Middle East, plus a vertical marketing campaign in the main target countries.
Following the precious suggestions received from professional associations, for the first time in the Show’s history, on Monday, April 28, accredited professional operators will get free access to the Show and have available dedicated areas for business meetings.
Euroflora ‘takes its space’ – the communication strategy
Euroflora 2025’s communication strategy revolves around the slogan ‘Nature takes its space’, with graphics highlighting Euroflora’s beauty and social role, with floricultural products in the foreground. Created by advertising agency Dilemma, the campaign will include two phases – the first mainly targeted at professionals, the second at the general public, so as to promote a truly exceptional and yet inclusive experience.
The Liguria Region and Genoa Municipality’s participation in sector events
Following the presentation of the Euroflora 2025 project at AIPH’s Spring Meeting last March in Doha, from May 17 to 26, Euroflora will be attending its twin show Floralies Internationales – France, which this year will take place at the Logis de la Chabotterie in Vendée. Euroflora will be present with a 200-square-meter garden featuring a large Origami in the center, symbolizing the Euroflora 2025 project.
For more information:
Euroflora
www.euroflora.genova.it