Asheville ranks high on list of best flower festivals in the world
ASHEVILLE - One of the best places to stop and smell the flowers is in Asheville, according to international travel agency, Planet Cruise.
Biltmore Blooms, a flower festival at Biltmore Estate, ranked No. 8 worldwide, based on search volume, social media mentions and sentiment, number of observed flower species at peak month, and the average daily sun hours and monthly rainfall.
The No. 1 ranked flower festival is the Tulip Festival in Amsterdam in The Netherlands, which has 85 locations of colorful tulips across the city including in public gardens and museums.
Biltmore Blooms received the most positive social media sentiment score at 91%. in Planet Cruise's research study. There were 590 searches and 6,840 social mentions reported for the flower festival.
In May, the peak month for blooms, 908 flower species were observed, and an average of 9.3 sun hours daily and 93 millimeters of rainfall monthly was measured, according to Planet Cruise.
This season, Biltmore Estate’s “Spring at Biltmore” features thousands of flowers including daffodils and tulips, and orange, purple, yellow, red and white bulbs are in the Walled Garden.
According to the estate, its founder George Vanderbilt was “fond of tulips as they paid tribute to his Dutch heritage.”
Biltmore’s gardens shift and change daily but guests may check Biltmore Director of Horticulture Bill Quade's weekly bloom report, updated on the estate's website.
Inside Biltmore House, the estate’s floral team has created floral décor in the theme of “Spring Romance” and recreated a large wedding bell and floral bouquet display in the Tapestry Gallery as a tribute to the 100th anniversary of the springtime wedding of Cornelia Vanderbilt ― daughter of Biltmore’s founders George and Edith Vanderbilt ― and John F.A. Cecil in April 1924. According to Biltmore, the design is based on the room’s 1924 decor for the couple’s wedding breakfast.
On April 15, Biltmore House tours will offer a new self-guided audio tour with new stories about the Vanderbilt family, recorded in English with versions in Spanish, French, German and Mandarin Chinese available later this spring.
Guests may request an American Sign Language and descriptive audio tour for the visually impaired.
In March, Biltmore premiered its new special art exhibition, “Chihuly at Biltmore,” featuring artworks by globally renowned artist Dale Chihuly, open through Jan. 5 at Amherst at Deerpark on the estate.
For details about admission tickets, events, and overnight stays, visit Biltmore.com or call 877-BILTMORE.
Planet Cruise’s Best Places in the World to See the Flowers Bloom in 2024:
Tulip Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Calla Lily Festival, Yangmingshan National Park, Taipei, Taiwan.
National Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, D.C.
Girona Flower Festival, Girona, Spain.
Canadian Tulip Festival, Ottawa, Canada.
Floralia Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.
The Gardens of Versailles, Versailles, France.
Biltmore Blooms, Asheville.
Springhill, Derry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
Infiorata Flower Carpet Festival, Noto, Italy.
See the full list at planetcruise.com.
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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Biltmore Estate's spring flower festival ranks on global list of bests
