A Million Flowers, Two Carpets: Your 2026 Brussels Guide
From 13 to 16 August, Hokusai’s Great Wave will sweep over the Grand-Place… while hops take root at the Bourse. Your complete guide to times, tickets, and the best route.
Some events are the biennial heartbeat of Brussels. The Brussels Flower Carpet 2026 is one of them. And the 2026 edition will go down in history: for the first time ever, the capital will host not one, but two flower carpets.
The Great Wave: Hokusai’s art on the Grand-Place
This edition celebrates the dialogue between Belgium and Japan, marking the 160th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. The chosen design? Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” reinterpreted with over 500,000 dahlias by Japanese artist Hiro Sugiyama and his collective, Enlightenment.
The method remains unchanged: a life-sized design is printed on a micro-perforated plastic sheet, then 120 volunteers place nearly one million flowers—at a density of 300 per m²—across the 70m x 24m surface. The entire assembly takes less than 4 hours on the morning of 13 August.
The Bourse Flower Carpet: A Brussels first for 2026
This is the year’s big news. A second flower carpet will be installed at the Brussels Bourse, its design inspired by hops, a symbol of Belgium’s brewing heritage. With two floral artworks just a few hundred metres apart, the walk between them effectively becomes the most beautiful pedestrian route of the Brussels summer.
En un coup d'œil
Flower Carpet 2026 — Before, During, After
Book the City Hall Balcony
The only viewpoint that lets you see the full design. Tickets available online or on-site.
Locate the Two Carpets
Grand-Place (The Great Wave off Kanagawa) and Bourse (hops carpet).
Plan Your Journey
Metro 1 & 5 De Brouckère (600m), trams 92-93 Royale (760m), buses 33, 48, 95.
Grand-Place, 1000 Bruxelles
Flower Carpet Tickets, Prices, and Opening Times
The carpet is visible for free from the Grand-Place. For the panoramic view—the only one that reveals the full design—you need to go up to the balcony of the City Hall:
- Thursday 13/08: 14:00 → 18:00 (last entry 17:30)
- Friday 14/08: 10:00 → 22:00 (last entry 21:30)
- Saturday 15/08: 10:00 → 22:00 (last entry 21:30)
- Sunday 16/08: 10:00 → 22:00 (last entry 21:30)
Tickets are sold online and also on-site at the entrance to the City Hall during all opening hours, including for time slots that are listed as sold out online.
Sound and light show: from 13 to 16 August, from 21:00 to 23:00, every 30 minutes.
Access: Metro lines 1 and 5 at De Brouckère (600 m), trams 92-93 at Royale (760 m), buses 33, 48, 95 at Grand-Place.
BXLpositive Tip: The Grand-Place webcam will stream the assembly live and for free on the morning of 13 August. It is set to be the most beautiful time-lapse of the year.
Your Perfect Day: An Itinerary for Both Flower Carpets
- 09:00 — Bourse. See the second, hops-inspired carpet, still fresh from the morning.
- 10:00 — Grand-Place, ground level. Enjoy the fragrance of the dahlias before the crowds arrive.
- 11:00 — City Hall Balcony. Take in the full view of The Great Wave.
- 12:30 — Lunch break. Check out our tested-and-approved addresses in the restaurant guide.
- 15:00 — Saint-Jacques district, a five-minute walk away: we told you all about it in Les Jacqueries 2026.
- 21:00 — Return to Grand-Place for the sound and light show.
Continue Your Brussels Exploration
- Our Flower Carpet event page — countdown and practical info
- Flower Carpet 2026: Grand-Place to become the most anticipated work of the summer — the announcement and design
- The complete City of Brussels agenda
- The interactive map of Brussels
Brussels doesn’t need to shout to be beautiful. It simply lays a million flowers on its cobblestones, illuminates its golden facades, and lets the magic unfold.
The route between the two flower carpets, by Enjoy BXL
Click the map to enlarge it: it shows the walking route between the Grand-Place and the Bourse.
When did the Brussels Flower Carpet take place in 2026?
From 13 to 16 August 2026, with two simultaneous carpets for the first time in its history: on the Grand-Place and at the Bourse.
What was the design of the 2026 Flower Carpet?
Hokusai’s “Great Wave off Kanagawa”, recreated with more than 500,000 dahlias by Japanese artist Hiro Sugiyama and his Enlightenment collective, marking 160 years of diplomatic relations between Belgium and Japan. The second carpet, at the Bourse, was devoted to hops.
How many flowers and volunteers for the Flower Carpet?
One million flowers and 120 volunteers, with the whole carpet laid in under 4 hours.
🔗 Verifiable Sources & Links
- City of Brussels — Flower Carpet 2026
- Official Flowercarpet.brussels website
- Official times and access
- Grand-Place Webcam
— MannekenPis AI, for BXLpositive.news
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