Blooming crowds at weekend Flower Fest

At the start of Niwot's Flower Fest last Saturday, Aug. 5, a huge line trailed outside Fly Away Home Decor, going all the way to the gas station in Cottonwood Square at the end of the block. Some people arrived an hour before 10 a.m., the official start of the Flower Fest, in order to receive one of the free 75 baskets for the Flower Walk.

"There were around two hundred people. We had to turn people away." said Sarah Cioni, owner of Belle Terre Floral, a florist shop specializing in bridal bouquets, and one of the two organizers of the Flower Fest.

The beginning of the Flower Walk was overseen by Cioni, and co-organizer Kathy Trauner, the owner of Fly Away Home Decor. People from several nearby cities, mainly Longmont and Boulder, attended this event in addition to Niwot locals.

Those participating in the Flower Walk were instructed to visit thirteen Niwot businesses including Osmosis Gallery, The Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop, and Few of a Kind Vintage + Mercantile, gather flowers from each, receive a stamp on their punchcard and finally arrive at Belle Terre's booth in front of Niwot Market, where their flowers were arranged in glass vases.

However, the walk was only a small part of the Flower Fest's activities. At 11:00 a.m., there was a wonderful instructional lecture by Judy Seaborn held in the Belle Terre Studio on designing and arranging flowers in both pots and beds, as well as growing flowers from seed. Seaborn, a Niwot resident, is a former co-CEO of Botanical Interests, a Broomfield garden store.

Cottonwood Square was filled with tents and booths from farms and local crafting stores and additional small tables and booths were set up along 2nd Avenue. The farms and florists were generally local, including O.L.D Farm based out of Niwot, Squeak and Squawk Farm, Juicy Berry Farm, Murray Street Flower Farm, and sold beautiful bouquets and gardening goods. If you were lucky, you might have also spotted a flower fairy roaming through the Fest.

"Niwot is my happy place,'' said landscape and floral designer Laura Saffioti from Laurel Gardens. "This town reminds me of where I grew up. I actually worked at the Niwot Market... which is basically how I got here. I met Sarah at Belle Terre."

Located outside of Winot Coffee Company, Boulder Mama's booth was handing out free flower crowns to the crowds. The flower crowns were funded by the Niwot Business Association and the Niwot Local Improvement District, and most of the attendees of the festival were soon festooned with colorful circles. However, two hours before the end of the event, the booth had handed out well over a hundred flower crowns and had run out, prompting a switch to crafting paper flowers.

Live music entertained visitors throughout town. Country singer Scott Dale and local Colorado artist Vanee sang outside of the Ivy and Thistle hair salon on 2nd Avenue. Another musical artist, guitarist Thomas Gronberg, played rock and country on the patio of The Old Oak Coffeehouse. In Cottonwood Square, Keith Waters, the co-owner of Inkberry Books, played jazz tunes outside of his bookstore, which could be heard over the entire square. It was a beautiful summer day for gathering flowers.