Northwest Flower & Garden Festival and SLOW FLOWERS Partner to Produce “Floral Wars” — featuring top professional florists competing head-to-head to create floral designs
December 11th, 2017
Media Contact: Barry Bartlett, The Bartlett Group, 206.335.4694 or barry@bartlettgrouppr.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEATTLE—”Floral Wars,” a new “friendly” competition between the Northwest’s most talented professional florists, joins the big line-up of feature attractions at the 2018 Northwest Flower & Garden Festival, February 7-11 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. The event is co-produced with Slow Flowers’ founder and creative director Debra Prinzing.
Presented by American Grown Flowers, “Floral Wars” will be held each day from 3-4 p.m. on the North Hall Stage. It pits two top floral artists against each other as they create three arrangements—a bridal bouquet, a centerpiece and a “surprise” floral creation—all in an hour or less. It’s a test of the contestants’ grace under pressure as they showcase American-grown flowers, USA-made floral accessories and eco-design techniques.
“Garden enthusiasts yearn for more flowers in their lives and ‘Floral Wars’ delivers on a promise—to inspire and educate our audiences with great ideas for floral design. It’s a fun way for showgoers to learn how to choose, combine and arrange flowers from your own backyard,” said event host, Debra Prinzing, author of Slow Flowers and The 50 Mile Bouquet.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION
During the hour-long event, floral pros will be given several surprise buckets of stems, and with clippers, vases and ribbons in hand, they’ll demonstrate their unique aesthetic styles and share tips and techniques with audience members. Heightening the drama, watch how they react to our “secret” ingredients and unexpected challenges.
Adding to the fast-paced fun, Corona Tools and Johnny’s Selected Seeds will provide door prizes and giveaways for the audience during the hour-long event. Showgoers are encouraged to arrive early to take advantage of café seating and enjoy a meal, snack, and a beverage while learning from the floral artists.
ABOUT THE NORTHWEST FLOWER & GARDEN FESTIVAL
Celebrating 30 years of inspiring all experience levels, The Northwest Flower & Garden Festival showcases 18 magnificent, idea-generating display gardens, demonstrations and displays focusing on small space and container gardening, more than 100 free “how-to” seminars by top experts, shopping for a cornucopia of quality products, artwork and regional food items in the bustling Marketplace, and much more.
DATES & TICKETS
Festival dates and hours are Wednesday through Saturday (Feb. 7-10), 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday (Feb. 11), 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Early Bird adult tickets now on sale online and over 60 retail locations (until February 6) – $19; regular adult (at the door) – $24; youth (13 to 17 years) – $7; and children 12 and under are FREE. For more information, or to purchase tickets online, visit www.gardenshow.com.
“Floral Wars” contestants include:
Wednesday, Feb. 7:
Melissa Feveyear, Terra Bella Flowers (Seattle) and Jessica Gring, Odd Flowers Floral Design and the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market (Seattle)
Melissa Feveyear of Terra Bella Flowers (left) and Jessica Gring of Odd Flowers Floral Design/Seattle Wholesale Growers Market (right)
Thursday, Feb. 8:
Gina Thresher, AIFD, From the Ground Up Floral (Kent) and Jon Robert Throne, AIFD, Countryside Floral & Garden (Issaquah)
Gina Thresher, AIFD, From the Ground Up Floral (left) and Jon Robert Throne, AIFD, Countryside Floral & Garden (right)
Friday, Feb. 9:
Rizaniño “Riz” Reyes, RHR Horticulture (Seattle) and Mick Payment, Flowers for the People (Bellevue)
Rizaniño “Riz” Reyes of RHR Horticulture (left) and Mick Payment of Flowers for the People (right)
Saturday, Feb. 10:
Anne Bradfield, Floressence (Seattle) and Kelly Sullivan, Botanique (Seattle)
Anne Bradfield of Floressence (left) and Kelly Sullivan of Botanique (right)
Sunday, Feb. 11:
Tobey Nelson, Tobey Nelson Events & Design (Langley) and Tammy Myers, First & Bloom (Issaquah)
Tobey Nelson of Tobey Nelson Events & Floral (left) and Tammy Myers of First & Bloom (right)
Floral Wars is made possible by:
FLOWERS/FOLIAGE: Certified American Grown Flowers is the exclusive provider of flowers and foliage used in the competition. Certified American Grown program ensures consumers of the domestic origins of their flowers and foliage and stands for the high quality, farm fresh blooms.
VASES/MECHANICS: Syndicate Sales, an American manufacturer of vases and accessories for the professional florist.
RIBBONS: Offray Ribbons is the last U.S. manufacturer of woven satin ribbon for the floral and craft marketplace.
APRONS: Raw Material Design, a Seattle-based maker of aprons and other textile products.
About Debra Prinzing:
Debra Prinzing is a Seattle-based writer, speaker and leading advocate for American Grown Flowers. Through her many Slow Flowers-branded projects, she has convened a national conversation that stimulates consumers and professionals alike to make conscious choices about their floral purchases.
Debra is the producer of SlowFlowers.com, the online directory to American-grown farms, florists, shops and studios who supply domestic and local flowers.
Each Wednesday, approximately 2,500 listeners tune into Debra’s “Slow Flowers Podcast,” available for free downloads at her web site, debraprinzing.com, or on iTunes and via other podcast services.
She is the creator of American Flowers Week, launched during the July 4th week in 2015 with more than 5.0 million social media impressions in 2017.
Debra is a Florists’ Review Contributing Editor which produces the “Slow Flowers Journal” section. She is a 2016 inductee to the Garden Writers Association Hall of Fame and the author of 10 books, including Slow Flowers and The 50 Mile Bouquet.
December 11th, 2017 at 6:27 pm
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