L.E.A.F. Flower Show
New York is home to all sorts of creative communities, one of which is the floral community.LEAF, a flower festival aims to highlight the talent within the floral industry. The three-day long festival showcases florists from the tristate area and their unique ways of creating floral art. WFUV's Isabel Danzis has more...
New York’s meatpacking district will be filled with flowers on June 10th, 11th, and 12th. LEAF, a flower festival, will be taking over the district to show off New York’s floral industry. Founder of LEAF, Moira Breslin says that the event is going to be exciting for everyone.
“It’s set to be a completely transformative weekend. We’re taking over the district with over a million flowers, over 100 florists, a huge European-style flower market featuring over 30 florists from all over the tri state area. And there will be a number of instationals all over the district, so New Yorkers can see all the great floral artistry we have to offer.”
One of LEAF’s goals is to connect New Yorkers with nature. Breslin grew up in London and Ireland. She says that both places are known for their green spaces.
“I adore New York, it’s my home, but it really is a concrete jungle. I’ve missed the unexpected surprise and the beauty of nature.”
LEAF hopes that by providing New Yorkers with large-scale floral art and displays, they will help New Yorkers appreciate natural beauty, which can then have positive effects on mental health. Breslin says that nature and flowers can impact everyone's mind positively because of its beauty.
Sylvia Lukach, a florist and founder of Cape Lilly, is participating in the LEAF festival. Lukach also feels that her connection with flowers and nature has been beneficial to her life.
“I love growing flowers too, that's a big part of it too, and seeing that connection from seed to having something in a vase is really special. There is something very striking about the beauty and individuality of every flower, that’s really uplifting anytime I work with them.”
Lukach is from South Africa, and often sells and works with South African flowers. At LEAF she will be selling South African flowers, as well as decorating a plinth, or 3 by 3 box with them. Behind the box will be a background made by Lukach with more flowers. Lukach calls her display an “afro-botanical” display. That means that she highlights the entire flower, including the earthy and natural aspects like roots.
In addition to the beauty of flowers, Breslin thinks that LEAF serving as a shared green space for the city can help bring the community closer.
“Shared municipal green space really helps the community come together and so if we can do that for a few days, where our whole community can come together in the district, and all New Yorkers can come together surrounded by flowers, surrounded by nature, that just feels like it can only be positive for everybody.”
Breslin is looking forward to a flower display all about Pride.
“We're actually really lucky, we had two proposals at LEAF in our Salute to Pride moment. I’m hoping that there’s love in the air again this year.”
LEAF is free to all New Yorkers and will be taking place on Jun 10th, 11th and 12th throughout the Meatpacking industry.
