The Lord Erroll in Runda Nairobi, played host to the inaugural 2019 Kenya Flower Festival which brought together flower enthusiasts in the country on Saturday.
Kenya being a flower exporter, the festival signaled a key milestone in the country’s horticulture industry.
Founded by Rosemary Kimunya, the event themed “Bloom in Bravery,” showcased an array of flowers grown in the country, with 20 exhibitions.
Kimunya said her goal is to highlight the blooming sector, from newcomers to one of the oldest flower growers Kenya has to offer.
Some of the flower farmers have been in the business for years and export to numerous countries across Africa as well as the United Kingdom, United States of America,The Netherlands, China and Japan.
Exhibitions included floral designs, flower art installations as well as recycled bottles now turned to flower vases.
The Kenya Flower Festival not only celebrated flower enthusiasts, it also showcased floral art in support of Breast Cancer Awareness, as well as a breast cancer screening on site to mark the cancer month.
The founder of the festival admitted that even though Kenya is the world’s third largest exporter of cut flowers, not enough people immerse themselves in the flower culture.
However through this event, she hopes to change that narrative, while supporting local flower farmers. The flower industry contributes around 1.06% to Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product-GDP.
Report by CGTN’s Hlonela Lupuwana
