Europa Cup 2007
It was a very thrilling and fascinating competition, the Europa Cup 2007 in Velenje – Slovenia, with many options still open till the last piece of work. But the awarding ceremony gave a definite answer: German florist Nadine Weckardt (from Herbrechtingen in Baden-Württemberg) conquered the title of European Champion of Floral Art 2007! A fantastic achievement. 32 year old Nadine Weckardt had to compete with 19 other national Champions during this 3-day contest and had to make 6 very different pieces of work.
The first one was “Pippi’s Feast” an arrangement reflecting some characteristics of Pippi Longstocking. For the last 17 years, Velenje is host city of Pipi’s festival, the biggest event for children in Slovenia. The “bridal bouquet” was to be made in such a way that a bride can either hold or fasten it to her hand. As to flowers, only carnations were to be used. As third task an “arrangement of pot plants” had to be made outside, suitable for a children’s playground. On the third day the participants had to make an arrangement reflecting some of the characteristics of the work of the famous Slovene archtict “Jože Pleznik”. In the evening, on sage, they made a “bouquet” of flowers and other material, provided by the organizer. Last but not least: the “surprise work”: big, shiny refrigerators, that had to be decorated with flowers. Certainly not an easy task!
Nadine’s best work was her bridal bouquet, a delicate arrangement with very many small carnations. She had the highest score for this work. Second highest score she had for the theme-work “Jože Ple?nik”, with an interpretation that stuck quite close to nature. In general it may be said of her work that it had a natural expression. Originality, a perfect feeling for the use of material, well balanced arrangements, perfect technique, these are the ingredients that brought Nadine Weckardt 464,6 points and her victory. A very close finish, however, as Austrian florist Andreas Stern was second with 463,8 points, followed by Swiss Christian Kaempf with 460,8 points. This result might suggest that top-floristry mainly is matter of the central European countries. But seeing the fact that these are very closely followed by countries like Great Britain, Russia, Hungary, Spain and the Netherland, it is clear that top florists can be found all over Europe. Which is one of the spin-offs of the organization of competitions like the Europa Cup.
It must be said the Slovenian Association did a great job and made this Europa Cup 2007 one of the best ones in history. It did cost very many efforts and lot’s of work for the organizers, but they achieved that all went very smoothly and the participants could concentrate on their work and were not distressed by all kind of organizational problems. It will be a big challenge for the organizes of the next cup (Eurofleurs 2008 in Brussels) to equal this achievement, but they will certainly do their utmost and try!
