philly

For the last few days, I've been at The 2009 Philadelphia Flower Show which I only recently found out is the largest one in the nation (and maybe the world?). It's my first time at the show and it's been a crazy experience. The scenery there, as you can imagine, is pretty wild.

I've been helping out at booth 315 – Beyond Borders. They sell fair trade artwork from Haiti. The Haitians recycle old 55 gallon steel oil drums and create these amazing pieces of art with them. All by hand. Using only a hammer and a chisel, they make intricate works of art. Prices are quite reasonable with 12" pieces around $30. They get larger (about 3' wide $250) and smaller (2" Milagros for $4.50) with everything in between. Folk art depicting mermaids, angels, hearts, crosses, birds, trees and musicians young and mythical. For some stupid reason, the only photo of their wonderful pieces is the crappy cellphone pic at the top of the post which is of a sleeping crescent moon and smiling sun. That 12" piece is $24.

I don't get away from the booth much during my time there, but with my badge, I can come and go as I please. I walked around for a bit on Wednesday after my shift. Above is part of PECO's exhibit. From the website:

Growing Green with PECO
An icon of the Philadelphia skyline – the PECO building and its familiar Crown Lights – will be recreated in a scale model with a 14-foot-high tower. The company’s walk-through exhibit will illuminate its new green initiative, topped off with the largest green roof in the state of Pennsylvania on an existing building. A slice of the green roof will show how it was constructed and how PECO is working to improve the urban environment.

I think the most eye catching display at the show is American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD)'s fashion display.

Alta Moda Floreale (Couture Floral, or Latest Style)
Floral design becomes fashion in this bold showcase. The set is based on line drawings, with 12-foot columns and 6-foot-wide chandeliers hanging above, to give the appearance of a high-end shop in Milan. The exhibit will evoke the Italian way of life with handbags, shoes, dresses, hats, perfume, jewelry and art interpreted in floral designs.

They placed large arrangements next to complementary mannequins.

The theme of this year's show is Bella Italia and above, you can see two attendees standing in front of a large map/graph planning out their visit.

I couldn't get a good look at a lot of things as the show as quite crowded, I was quite tired and I wanted to get home and eat my dinner – I was rushing a bit. But people seemed quite enamored with the show. Here you can see two women discussing the intricate piece displayed in a tiny little 6" x 6" box.

The show is on the second floor of the convention center taking up all of the floorspace. It's divided into retail and display space with retail taking up approximately 1/3 of the space of the west end of the building and the big displays taking up the rest of the space. I'm not much of a flower person; yes, they're nice to look at, but I don't need a bajillion acres of flowers to look at while wading through thousands of tourists. Note: my definition of a "tourist" is anybody who cannot, for whatever reason, walk in a crowd. With my definition, anybody can be a tourist anywhere no matter where you're from. It's those people who find it okay to just stop short in the middle of a walkway instead of cautiously stepping aside for those behind them. Those people who think it's okay to walk 5 across when a walkway is 6 wide. Those people who don't understand that their 8' tall fucking stupid pussy willows stick people in their eyes all the fucking time (I hate you).

But if you find yourself at the Flower Show on Friday between 11a – 7p, stop by booth 315, it's the one with the prize winning First Place blue ribbon for best in show for 'Home Accessories – Large Booth' – I helped paint that booth on Friday.

My friend Taylor has a free coupon for a free dessert over on her site. It's a new giveaway and it's only for the first 100 people to come by their booth.

Some more photos from the show in this Flickr set.

The show runs though Sunday. Tickets are $22 for adults. For more information, head here.

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