One of Italy's most famous Flower Festivals, the Infiorata in the town of Genzano near Rome has been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus epidemic. The three-day Festival, which celebrates the Feast of Corpus Domini, was programmed to take place between the 3rd -5th June. The theme chosen for this edition was "The Sacred in Art, Beauty and Nature". During the event, which was founded over two centuries ago, and been held each year continuously apart from a pause during WWII, the main street is carpeted with a sequence of floral pictures traced out in millions of flower petals. The Genzano Flower Festival was recorded Danish author Hans Christian Andersen during his visit to Rome in 1833-34 and it was also immortalized in the form of a ballet by the choreographer August Bournonville in 1842. The towns of Spello (Lazio) and Tivoli, who also hold annual Flower Festivals, have also cancelled. Even more disappointing for lovers of flowers and gardens is the announced cancellation of the annual Premio Roma (Rose Prize) held annually in the Roseto (Rome's Communal Rose Garden) near the Baths of Caracalla, where new hybrids from all over the world compete in a heady beauty contest. The Roseto has over one thousand varieties of roses and is normally open to the public for two months, starting with the Rome Birthday celebrations on the 21st April and the competition takes place on the 3rd Saturday of May. Organizers hope to move the event to the autumn, when the roses are usually still in full bloom.
Info:
www.comune.genzanodiroma.roma.it