Flower Festival

The floral art passed from hand to hand

In the calendar of the Viterbo Tuscia, the Flower Festival holds a special place: it is the day when Vignanello, a village in the Cimini Hills, officially hands over the art of floral carpet making to the new generations. Since 2015, the Associazione Infioratori Vignanello, under the patronage of Infioritalia — the national association for artistic floral carpets — has organized this event every May, dedicated entirely to local students who are called upon to create real carpets of fresh and dried flowers in the town square.

The 'Floral Carpet in Schools' Project

The festival is the culmination of the 'Floral Carpet in Schools' project, a program that lasts the entire school year: theoretical lessons on the history and techniques of floral art, the creation of sketches in class, and finally, the field test. Classes from the Falcone e Borsellino Comprehensive Institute and students from the U. Midossi Higher Education Institute, assisted by teachers, parents, master floral artists, and civil service volunteers, work from the early hours of the morning; even kindergarten children contribute with small floral installations that decorate the town.

A square covered in petals

Throughout the day, the historic center — including Piazza Cesare Battisti, Piazza della Repubblica, the facade of the Castello Ruspoli, and the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria della Presentazione — is covered with over fifteen floral paintings. The themes change every year: from geometric patterns to Etruscan art, from the four seasons to free interpretations of contemporary street art, and even messages dedicated to fundamental human rights. The afternoon continues with live music, dance performances, and a lottery draw.

Guests from the Infioritalia network

Working alongside the young artists are groups of masters from other Italian capitals of floral art: in various editions, floral artists from Aprilia, Norma, San Gemini, and Cervaro have visited Vignanello. These exchanges, reciprocated at events like Aprilia in Fiore, make the festival a recognized stop on the national circuit of artistic floral carpets.

The Corpus Domini preview

The Flower Festival is conceived as a preview of the great Corpus Domini Flower Festival, the most deeply felt tradition in Vignanello, documented since the 19th century and interrupted only during the two World Wars. On the eve of the feast, the entire community covers the streets of the old town with an uninterrupted floral carpet, from the Vignola arch to Piazza della Repubblica, over which the solemn procession passes in the morning, moving from the Collegiate Church to the convent of the Passionist Sisters.

A village to discover

Supported by the Municipality of Vignanello and integrated into the traditions of the Lazio Region, the event is also an opportunity to discover one of the most interesting villages in the Tuscia region: the Castello Ruspoli with its famous Italian garden, the cellars carved into the tuff, and the wines of the Cimini Hills, about 70 kilometers from Rome. It is a free-entry day designed for families, where the ephemeral art of petals tells the story of an entire community's identity.