How did Brussels’ Flower Carpet draw 20,800 visitors above the Grand-Place?
Around 20,800 people entered Brussels Town Hall from 13 to 16 August 2026 to view the 24th Flower Carpet from above, as a Hokusai-inspired display made the city centre a public stage for 160 years of Belgian-Japanese relations.
In 30 seconds
- Organisers counted about 20,800 visitors using the Town Hall viewpoint from 13 to 16 August.
- The 24th carpet reinterpreted Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa.
- BX1 reported 750,000 dahlias across 1,680 square metres.
- The display marked 160 years of diplomatic relations between Belgium and Japan.
Around 20,800 people entered Brussels Town Hall between Thursday 13 and Sunday 16 August to admire the 24th Flower Carpet from above the , the event’s organisers reported after the four-day installation closed. The turnout covered visitors using the Town Hall viewing route, not the much larger but uncounted public circulating through the square, where organisers told Belgian media that tens or possibly hundreds of thousands saw the display.
For people living in Brussels, the event briefly turned the historic municipal centre—not the nearby European quarter—into one of Belgium’s most visible international stages. This year’s carpet marked 160 years of diplomatic relations between Belgium and by reinterpreting Katsushika Hokusai’s celebrated woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Japanese artist Hiro Sugiyama and his Enlightenment collective devised the design, which was assembled on the cobbles with multicoloured dahlias.
BX1, citing the organisers, reported that 750,000 flowers covered 1,680 square metres. The City of Brussels describes the standard installation as measuring 70 by 24 metres and says roughly 120 volunteers can complete it in under four hours. Those figures explain some of the attraction: the carpet is both a large artwork and a tightly timed performance, visible for only a few summer days before the flowers are removed.
Visitors seeking the fullest view could climb approximately 200 steps through the Town Hall tower experience, with a floral installation placed along the route and a panorama over central Brussels at the top. Access required sufficient mobility and was discouraged for young children, pregnant visitors and people affected by vertigo or claustrophobia, according to visit.brussels. Everyone else could see the carpet free of charge from the Grand-Place or follow its construction by webcam.
Nawal Ben Hamou, the City of Brussels alderwoman responsible for culture and tourism and president of the organising non-profit, framed the turnout as evidence that the carpet again showcased the capital and carried the Grand-Place’s image beyond Belgium. Her emphasis was civic and touristic: a temporary artwork drawing international attention to Brussels’ architectural centre and supporting its identity as a destination.
Belgian and Japanese officials placed the same display in a wider diplomatic story. Belgium’s Foreign Affairs ministry called the carpet a highlight of the anniversary year, which also included Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako’s June state visit to Belgium. Shuichi Nishino, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese embassy, said anniversary events such as the carpet and the Ommegang created opportunities to rediscover an established partner and develop new collaboration, particularly among younger generations.
That diplomatic interpretation is more substantial than ceremonial decoration alone. Federal Finance Minister Jan Jambon described Japan as Belgium’s second-largest non-European foreign investor when the anniversary programme opened in January. Foreign Affairs has separately highlighted cooperation in semiconductors, hydrogen, renewable energy, optics and biotechnology. The carpet therefore translated a relationship usually discussed through trade, royal diplomacy and technology into something immediately accessible to residents and tourists.
The setting carried its own historical weight. Brussels began the Flower Carpet tradition in 1971, while UNESCO has listed the Grand-Place as World Heritage since 1998 for the exceptional architectural coherence produced by its reconstruction after the French bombardment of 1695. The 2026 programme also extended beyond the square for the first time with a second floral carpet at the inspired by hops and Belgium’s brewing heritage.
Where this is happening
View on map Grand-Place →The installation has now been dismantled, so the confirmed figure remains a count of Town Hall visitors rather than a complete attendance total. Organisers plan to return with the indoor floral exhibition Flowertime in 2027, followed by the next biennial Flower Carpet in 2028. They have not yet announced the next carpet’s theme or designer.
What to do
The 2026 Flower Carpet has ended, so readers cannot now visit the installation or Town Hall viewpoint. The reported 20,800 attendance figure applies only to viewpoint entries from 13 to 16 August, not everyone who saw the carpet from the square. For future planning, Flowertime is due in 2027 and the next Flower Carpet is expected in 2028. Readers should check the City of Brussels and visit.brussels listings nearer those events for confirmed dates, access arrangements and ticket costs, which are not established here.
Impact
Regional — The event concentrated visitors in Brussels’ historic centre and promoted the Grand-Place, Town Hall and Bourse as a connected cultural route. No authoritative estimate of its direct economic impact has been published.
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Voices & reactions
What the main actors are doing
Reported positions, summarised — not direct quotationsCity of Brussels cultural-tourism perspective
Nawal Ben Hamou, Brussels alderwoman for culture and tourism and president of the organising non-profit, presented the event chiefly as a way to reveal the capital’s beauty and carry the Grand-Place’s image beyond Belgium. This places civic identity, heritage and visitor appeal ahead of diplomatic symbolism.
Belgian-Japanese diplomatic perspective
Belgian Foreign Affairs and Japanese deputy chief of mission Shuichi Nishino framed the carpet as public diplomacy: one part of a year-long programme intended to renew mutual understanding and encourage future cooperation. This view connects the artwork to a relationship spanning trade, technology, education and royal ties.
Attendance-counting perspective
The confirmed 20,800 figure measures people entering the Town Hall viewpoint, while organisers described much larger crowds on the square without a formal count. Treating the number as total event attendance would therefore understate the audience, but presenting the broader estimates as established fact would overstate the available evidence.
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- How did Brussels’ Flower Carpet draw 20,800 visitors above the Grand-Place?· You are here
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