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EXPO 2012 Venlo
Floriade theater
Overview
BIE-class	Horticultural exposition
Name	Floriade 2012
Motto	Living Nature
Area	66 hectares (160 acres)
Participant(s)
Countries	25
Location
Country	Netherlands
City	Venlo
Timeline
Opening	April 5, 2012 (2012-04-05)
Closure	October 7, 2012 (2012-10-07)
Horticultural expositions
Previous	Expo 2006 in Chiang Mai
Next	Expo 2016 in Antalya
Specialized expositions
Previous	Expo 2008 in Zaragoza
Next	Expo 2017 in Astana
Universal expositions
Previous	Expo 2010 in Shanghai
Next	Expo 2015 in Milan
Simultaneous
Specialized	Expo 2012
Internet
Website	website

The Floriade 2012 was a Dutch horticultural exposition held in Venlo, Netherlands. It was the sixth Floriade and was held from April 5 to October 7, 2012. The Floriade 2012 was opened by Queen Beatrix. The exposition's theme and slogan was "Be part of the theatre in nature; get closer to the quality of life".

Preparation

The Dutch Horticultural Council selected a number of candidates starting in June 2004 for the organization of the Floriade 2012. The official candidates were:

• Arnhem
• Drechtsteden (Alblasserdam, Dordrecht, 'S-Gravendeel, Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Papendrecht, Sliedrecht, Zwijndrecht)
• NoordWest 8 (a partnership of several organizations in the field of thirty municipalities in the region of Alkmaar, Hoorn and Den Helder)
• Region Venlo
• Rotterdam
• Tilburg / Brabantstad
• District Amsterdam-Noord

The municipalities of Rotterdam and Arnhem had in earlier decided to withdraw the candidacy because the financial risks were deemed too high. In Drechtsteden, the five participating municipalities failed to make a positive decision. In Drechtsteden, the concerns of high costs, environmental impact and disruption of Sunday rest were reasons against hosting the festival. The board of the Dutch Horticultural Council announced on December 8, 2004, that the plan of the only remaining candidate, Venlo, met the criteria.

The official preview event, named "Floriade Invites", hosted 22,000 visitors on June 20, 2010. A cable car by Doppelmayer was part of the Floriade Preview Centre which operated in 2011. The Floriade, which was designed by landscape architect John Boon, made prominent use of Cradle-to-cradle design.

The festival

The Floriade Park covered a total of 66 hectares (163 acres), including 22 hectares (55 acres) of forest, two and a half acres of buildings and four acres of water. Organizers of the festival planted 1,700 trees, 20,000 shrubs, 200,000 perennials, 65,000 water plants, one and a half million bulbs and 95,000 annuals. There were 60 charging stations for electric cars in the parking lot of the Floriade. The park consisted of five themed areas, separated by woodland. Each theme area had its own decor, program and activities.

• Relax & Heal
• Green Engine
• Education & Innovation
• Environment
• World Show Stage

The Floriade contained two imposing buildings. The design was created between 2007 and 2010 and the first tree planting was in 2008. The same year also saw construction of the theme field, Relax & Heal, and a year later the shrubs were planted. In 2010, the perennials were placed and planted borders. The last theme field Green Engine was built.

Villa Flora was one of the biggest crowd pullers at the Floriade. The fully energy-neutral building is a symbol of sustainability, innovation and the green economy. Villa Flora is a design by the architect Jón Kristinsson. The Innova has been designed by former government architect Jo Coenen. The building is 70 meters (230') high and has 16 floors, with exhibition rooms on the 16th floor, and has been redeveloped to become part of the Venlo GreenPark, a green business park. A 1,100 meter (1200 yard) long cable car system running through the park opened on April 16, 2011.

Queen Beatrix visited the Floriade a second time during the state visit of President Abdullah Gül of Turkey, in which the president opened the Turkish pavilion.

Aftermath and legacy

Management had estimated a total of 2.3 million visitors would come to Floriade 2012. During the closing ceremony on October 7, 2012, CEO Paul Beck announced a total 2,046,684 guests were welcomed. Initially media falsely reported a loss of 9 million Euros. In 2013 Floriade reported a loss of 5.5 million Euros, later this was adjusted to 5.4 Million Euros. Later the legacy and spin-off of the expo were valued at 350 Million Euros and local and regional entrepreneurs noted an increase in spending during and after the expo. The site of the expo is now home to Greenport Venlo, a variety of new companies are now located in the former entrance building and Villa Flora and large logistics centers occupy the site of the former parking lot.

Gallery

• The "Innovation Tower", Floriade entrance
• Cable car station
• Netherlands' pavilion
• Villa Flora

References

1. Beatrix opent Floriade op uitzendinggemist.nl
2. Koningin opent Floriade
3. "Floriade 2012 - World Horticultural Expo - Venlo, the Netherlands & Floriade 2012". Retrieved 18 August 2011.
4. Gary Pini (January 8, 2010). "Seven Wonders Of My World". Paper magazine. Archived from the original on November 6, 2010. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
5. "bidboek". Archived from the original on 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
6. "Gerbera Nieuws op GerberaNet - Gerbera Net" (in Dutch). Gerberanet.nl. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2015-06-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "Record Floriade zestig elektrische oplaadpunten". Archived from the original on 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
9. Villa Flora Archived 2012-05-30 at archive.today
10. Villa Flora
11. Innavatoren Archived 2011-05-03 at the Wayback Machine
12. Venlo GreenPark Archived 2012-06-04 at archive.today
13. Venlo GreenPark
14. "Floriade 2012 – theme park at heart". Park World Online - Theme Park, Amusement Park and Attractions Industry News. February 2011. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
15. "Floriade haalt bezoekers doelstelling". L1 (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-10-27.
16. "Inkomsten Floriade vallen tegen, maar 'geen 9 miljoen verlies'". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 2012-12-01. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
17. "Verlies Floriade Venlo loopt terug tot 5,5 miljoen". www.almerezaken.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-10-27.
18. "Pretparkenexpert voorspelt: Floriade Almere wordt zeker 40 miljoen duurder". EenVandaag (in Dutch). 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
19. "Omroep Venlo - Scholten: Floriade succesvol ondanks tekort". omroepvenlo.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-10-27.
20. "Ondernemers regio Venlo tevreden over Floriade | nrit.nl - trends, nieuws en kennis op het gebied van leisure, toerisme en hospitality". www.nritmedia.nl. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
21. "Greenport Venlo: bedrijven, campus, natuur & recreatie". www.greenportvenlo.nl. Retrieved 2021-10-27.

External links

• Official website of the BIE

51°24′21″N 6°07′22″E / 51.4058°N 6.1228°E / 51.4058; 6.1228

• International horticultural exhibitions
• 2012 in the Netherlands
• Venlo
• Festivals in the Netherlands
• Culture of Limburg (Netherlands)
• Garden festivals in the Netherlands
• 2012 festivals
• Floriade (Netherlands)