The Story

Cervia Città Giardino is the largest open-air floral art exhibition in Europe, a reference point for architects and green technicians from all over Europe.

Born from an idea of ​​Germano Todoli and carried out by his son Riccardo, the exhibition, that started in the early 1970s, has taken on an international character.

In recent years, over 60 teams of gardeners come every year to Cervia, representing Italian and foreign cities, companies, organizations, schools and associations, to decorate the most beautiful spaces in the area for the tourist season.

The work of this international team has given life to an open-air floral art exhibition, accessible at any time of the day from May to September, until the next spring, when the look of the floral city is adjusted again. This is an exhibition that spreads over public areas throughout the Cervia area.

Over the years, technicians, experts and master gardeners from Italy, Europe and the world have transformed flower beds and gardens into real works of art, experimenting with unique techniques and floral innovations, creating an opportunity for comparison and exchange of creativity, methods of intervention and innovations in the management of public and private green areas.

Throughout the summer, over 350,000 flowers and plants, thousands of square meters of turf, sculptures, exciting expressions and compositions, figures and geometries, original gardens and incredible floral arrangements, carefully cared for by the Green Service of the Municipality of Cervia can be admired while walking around the city.

In 2020, due to the health emergency, it was not possible to host the masters of gardening of 60 and more Italian and foreign delegations who should have met in Cervia, a city of hospitality and integration. Despite the difficult period that we experienced and that was still experienced in 2021, the municipal administration has given continuity to the event, thanks to the “Dante and the Gardens of Eden” project.

The soul of ‘Cervia Città Giardino’ has always been to send a message of joy and hope with flowers. Flowers are synonymous with peace and friendship between peoples, and all this has been possible thanks to the many cities, associations and green companies that have shown us affection and friendship, also in 2021, giving us plants and flowers to keep alive the  tradition of the ‘Maggio in Fiore’ (May in Bloom), showing that our city continues to look ahead, with an explosion of colors that flourish after the darkness of the storm and that represent a bridge that unites us as a symbol of hope and rebirth.