More than 77,000 potted plants will be used to turn St George’s Square into Europe’s largest carpet of colourful flowers, as part of the Valletta Foundation 2018 events.
The infiorita – as laying down flowers in a square in the shape of a particular design is known – has always been a dream of V-18 chairman Jason Micallef and will take place over three days from May 9.
He described the foundation as “a factory of creative ideas” aimed at putting up “sustainable” events.
The first edition of the Valletta Green Festival, he said, was intended to raise environmental consciousness as part of Valletta’s journey towards becoming European Capital of Culture in 2018.
“For this occasion, the facade of the Palace will also be decorated with thousands of plants,” Mr Micallef said.
The event will be carried out in collaboration with the Environmental Landscape Consortium.
If you put all the plants in a line they would span from Valletta to Siġġiewi
Unlike foreign infioritas, the Valletta one will use potted plants, not petals, ELC chairman Peter Calamatta said.
“When Jason approached us with the idea of an infiorita, my heart gave a lurch: it is a lot of hard work, it is a major challenge.”
Costing between €15,000 and €25,000, this will be the largest European infiorita in length and width. About 80,000 plants will be used to cover an area of 20 square metres, taking up a quarter of the square.
“If you put all the plants in a line they would span from Valletta to Siġġiewi,” said Mr Calamatta.
The colourful petunias and pansies have been growing for the past three months and they will be placed in the square in the shape of a Maltese tile, a design by Alexandra Pace.
“It was always Jason’s dream and it’s going to become a reality,” Mr Calamatta said of Mr Micallef, who was once the presenter of a gardening TV programme and has owned a flower shop.
Mr Calamatta said the plants would be installed overnight and it would take about a hundred people a good eight hours to finish the job.
“When the weekend is over the plants will be taken to public gardens,” he said.
Valletta mayor Alexiei Dingli explained how this event should be used to promote ‘green roofs’.
“If we put potted plants on our roofs, they will absorb heat and will stave off the need to use air conditioners. These are ecological solutions that we should be exploring and promoting,” he said.
He also said the Knights of Malta had cleverly built reservoirs under the whole of Valletta.
“It would be good, during this Green Festival, to raise awareness about these reservoirs, restore them and reuse them.”
Environment Minister Leo Brincat said his ministry would also be collaborating with V-18.
Form 3 students of St Albert the Great will be involved in the festival and have been given special gardening workshops covering the planting process from seed to potting.