About

The internationally renowned Flower Carpet project comes to the UK for the very first time.

Inspired by Bradford’s textile heritage and its communities, local artist Shiraaz Ali has combined archival pattern and symbols for a huge bright, bold and powerful design spanning 29-meters wide.

This living artwork is handmade from over 300,000 colourful dahlia flowerheads.

The world renowned Flower Carpet has been a regular event in Belgium since the 1970s, and for this UK first, it will be created live and displayed in the gothic surrounds of Centenary Square in the grounds of Bradford’s City Hall.

The public will be able to get up close to the artwork in this once in a lifetime free event. The flowers will change responding to the environment across the 4 days. At the end of the event, when the dahlias have ceased to bloom, the flowerheads will be composted locally and naturally decompose, continuing their natural lifecycle.

Each night from 7.30pm – 8.30pm Flower Carpet will be illuminated with a sound and light show, bringing this unique design to life.

Over the weekend there will be free flower-inspired drop-in family activities inspired by the artwork.

Optional bookable experience(Sold Out): As part of Flower Carpet, we are inviting you to see a small glimpse of the history and the grandeur of Bradford’s City Hall with a viewing area available to get an additional perspective of Flower Carpet form a raised viewing area. Bookable time slots run every 20 minutes between 10:20am – 7pm (last entry 6:40pm). Booking in advance is necessary.

 

This UK edition of Flower Carpet is part of Nature Season, a programme of nature-themed cultural activity, spanning all five West Yorkshire districts, from large-scale installations and open-air concerts to woodland art trails and community gardening projects.