December 6 - 12, 2015: Issue 243

FLORIADE – THE NETHERLANDS – 1982

Overview of the site from the observation tower

 FLORIADE – THE NETHERLANDS – 1982

By George Repin

When my wife and I were at a loose end at Schiphol Airport in 1982, while waiting for a connecting flight, a member of the KLM ground staff suggested that we fill in the time by going to Floriade which was open near Amsterdam at the time.  This good advice proved to be fortunate as we enjoyed an unexpected, pleasurable few hours.

Billboard advertising Floriade

Floriade, coordinated by the Dutch Horticultural Council has been held in the Netherlands every ten years since 1960 to showcase Dutch horticulture, to strengthen its image and to promote exports.  It is an international exhibition and garden festival recognised by the Bureau of International Expositions.

The location varies and is awarded to a city after a bidding process. After the first Floriade in Rotterdam subsequent Floriades have been held in Amsterdam (1972 and 1982),   Zoelemermeer (1992),   Haarlemmermeer (2002) and Venlo (2012).  The next exhibition in 2022 will be at Almere with the slogan “Growing Green Cities”.

Floriade is set out as a park in which the Dutch horticultural industry presents its latest trends and developments to the world.  Topics range from water, sustainability, flowers and gardens.  Art, theatre and musical performances have been additional features at recent Floriades.

The accompanying photographs, taken in 1982, provide glimpses of the Floriade in Amsterdam at that time

 Dedicated light rail for the exhibition site

 Warning sign for the light rail line

Outdoor Displays 

 Under cover displays

Previous Reflections by George Repin 

The Nineteen Thirties  Remembering Rowe Street  The Sydney Push  Saturday Night at the Movies  Shooting Through Like A Bondi Tram  A Stop On The Road To Canberra  City Department Stores - Gone and Mostly Forgotten  An Australian Icon - thanks to Billy Hughes  Crossing The Pacific in the 1930s  Hill End  The Paragon at Katoomba  Seafood In Sydney  How Far From Sydney?  Cockatoo Island Over The Years  The Seagull at the Melbourne Festival in 1991  Busby's Bore  The Trocadero In Sydney  Cahill's restaurants  Medical Pioneers in Australian Wine Making  Pedal Power and the Royal Flying Doctor Service  Pambula and the Charles Darwin Connection  Gloucester and the Barrington Tops  A Millenium Apart  Have You Stopped to Look?  Gulgong  Il Porcellino Olympia  Durham Hall  Sargent's Tea Rooms Pie Shops and Street Photographers The Ballet Russes and Their Friends in Australia  Hotels at Bondi  Alma Ata Conference - 1978 Keukenhof - 1954 The Lands Department Building and Yellowblock Sandstone  The Goroka Show - 1958  A Gem On The Quay  Staffa  The Matson Line and Keepsake Menus Kokeshi Dolls  The Coal Mine At Balmain  The Hyde Park Barracks  The Changing Faces Of Sydney From Pounds and Pence to Dollars and Cents Nell Tritton and Alexander Kerensky  Making A Difference In Ethiopia William Balmain  J C Bendrodt and Princes Restaurant Azzalin Orlando Romano and Romano's Restaurant Waldheim  Alcohol in Restaurants Before 1955  King Island Kelp  The Mercury Theatre  Around Angkor - 1963  Angkor Wat 1963  Costumes From the Ballets Russe Clifton at Kirribilli  Chairman Mao's Personal Physician  The Toby Tavern The MoKa at Kings Cross The Oceaographic  Museum in Monaco  The Island of Elba Russian Fairy Tale Plates Meteora Souda Bay War Cemetery Barrow, Alaska Cloisonné Tripitaka Koreana Minshuku The Third Man Photographs and Memories Not A Chagall! Did You Listen? Did You Ask? Napier (Ahuriri, Maori) New Zealand Borobudur  Ggantija Temples Plumes and Pearlshells Murano  University of Padua Ancient Puebloe Peoples - The Anasazi  Pula  The Gondolas of Venice Cinque Terre  Visiting the Iban David The Living Desert Bryce Canyon National Park  Aphrodisias  The Divine Comedy Caodaism  Sapa and local Hill People  A Few Children Cappadocia  Symi Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre  Aboriginal Rock Art on Bigge Island  ANZAC Cove (Ari Burnu) 25 April, 1997 Hotere Garden Oputae Children of the Trobriand Islands Page Park Market - Rabaul Rabual  Kotor, Montenegro  Galleries of Photographs I  Lascaux  Galleries of Photographs II  The Cathedral of St. James – Šibenik, Croatia  Ivan Meštrović  - Sculptor  Delphi  Gallery of Photographs III  The Handicrafts of Chiang Mai Raft Point  San Simeon - "Hearst Castle"  

Copyright George Repin 2015. All Rights Reserved.