Interflora is once again looking for talented florists from across the UK and Ireland to enter their prestigious Florist of the Year competition.
For the first time ever, the competition is open to all florists in the UK and Ireland, not just Interflora members. And in another first, the winner of Florist of the Year will go on to represent the UK and Ireland at the Interflora World Cup in 2023, to be held in the UK for the first time in the competition’s history; surely the ultimate prize!
How to enter Florist of the Year
The heats for Interflora Florist of the Year are photographic, which means that competitors submit photographs of their competition piece for each of the three schedules, designed to test the competitors’ creativity and technical ability. The theme for the competition heats is “Inspired by Nature” and the schedules are available to view and download on the Floristry Trade Club website here.
To enter the heats, competitors need to download and complete the entry form on the UK Floristry Judges Guild website here.
The competition heats open on 1st November 2021 and close on 31st January 2022.
What happens next?
Once the competition heats have closed, the UK Floristry Judges Guild will assess all the entries using the International 100-point system. The top scoring competitors will be invited to take part in a live semi-final in April 2022 and the best of the best will then go forward to a live final in July 2022. The newly crowned Interflora Florist of the Year will represent the UK and Ireland in the Interflora World Cup in 2023.
Every competitor in the heats, semi-final and final will receive a Certificate of Participation which may be used in their Continuous Professional Development (CPD) portfolio
The winner and runners-up in the Florist of the Year final will all receive cash prizes, whilst all the finalists will receive bespoke social media marketing support to help them promote their business and competition achievements.
Why compete?
Talk to any contestant and they’ll tell you there is so much a florist can gain by entering competitions … be it improving their day-to-day floristry, giving them a different perspective and inspiring them to use the techniques they learn in competition work in their everyday designs.
Competitions also help florists develop their eye for design, improve their colour and flower choices and make them more imaginative with the materials they use.
Taking part in competitions also really helps to expand a florist’s horizons. They’ll meet other florists and make new friends as they all compete, sharing ideas and learning from each other and the judges.
Interflora Director Nick Priest said: “Floristry needs to showcase just how much skill is involved in making bespoke designs. Competitions are the perfect way to achieve this but with fewer opportunities available to compete, Interflora decided to expand what we’ve done in the past and make it open to everyone. We are really excited to see how many new competitors we can get involved”.
