Primula Festival 2020 in Destelbergen!

Given the popularity and success of the biennial Primula Festival in the United Kingdom, the first Belgian Primula Festival was organised in week 7 of 2020 at Rudy Raes Bloemzaden in Destelbergen!

During the Festival, primroses were -of course- the central theme, but also the various uses were put in the spotlight! There were various types of displays: from the well-known tables as seen in garden centres, but with beautiful matching banners, to a small garden and even a living room. In addition, the primula was also used in various themes around Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, spring... And even beautiful combination pots on top!

Everything to make it clear that there is a lot more to offer. You just have to know how to present it to the consumer, give him ideas! The aim of the festival was to make this clear to the entire chain: both growers and traders were invited, so that they could find inspiration together.

In addition, the standard varieties from our own breeding (Primus, Evie, Ambie, Charlie, Tobie and Cabaret) were on display, including some new colours and improvements. All this also in comparison with the standard varieties of the competition.

The double-flowered Rubens attracted most attention with a brilliant Sky Blue as the new introduction for 2020. The Rubens Antique Apricot Rose also received a lot of positive comments, although it is still in an experimental stage (together with some new Rubens colours such as Yellow, Dark Rose and Lavender) and we are still waiting for the official release date. A lot to look forward to! The living room mentioned earlier was set up to demonstrate that the Rubens also has a very good shelf life in the living room. By the way, at the beginning of March the Rubens will again be available at AVEVE for the benefit of Think Pink!

After the success in 2019 of the Sweetie, new bi-coloured primroses with an edge could not stay behind. The Sparkly Mix (of which Sparkly Blue and Lavender are also available as separate colours) was also a new introduction for 2020.

There were also some new specials to admire, such as the FireFlies and Limoncello.

The garden primroses were not overlooked either. The Everlast, which Raes calls the Viola cornuta among primroses, and the Veristar were the big attention seekers.

Raes themselves are very satisfied with the attendance at the festival; the many compliments and e-mails from growers and other companies from all over Europe confirm the positive feeling.

The absentees were wrong, but given the success, they may get a 2nd chance next year in the UK or later on back in Destelbergen. To be continued!