FLOWERTHON 2026 — How to Take Part, Submit and Enter the Awards

How to Take Part, Submit Your Work and Enter the Awards

FLOWERTHON is a 24-hour global floral event: 24 Guest Hosts, 24 live creative hours, 48 awards and one Global Gallery. You can join from wherever you are, work with the flowers and materials available to you, and create in your own way.

This guide explains exactly how the live event works, how to record your start and finish, how to photograph and submit your work, how judging works, and what to do if you are joining as a team.

Event at a glance

FLOWERTHON runs from 11:00 JST on Wednesday 21 October 2026 until 11:00 JST on Thursday 22 October 2026.

You do not need to attend all 24 hours. Join the sessions included with your ticket, create at your own pace, and choose the hours and award categories that fit your practice.

Each FLOWERTHON session has its own Zoom link. Eligible ticket holders will receive the correct link for each session before the event.

The Global Gallery will remain visible for one year after the event. All FLOWERTHON winners will be announced on Friday 6 November 2026.

Choose the right way to join

Full Live Experience

Full Live participants can join the complete 24-hour event. They are eligible for the Flower Club International Awards for Floral Excellence, the relevant Guest Host Awards and any Special Awards for which their work qualifies. They may select any of the 21 Special Awards that genuinely apply to their work, with no more than one entry per Special Award. Every submitted work needs its own matching start and finish proof.

Mini Pass

A Mini Pass gives access to one three-hour block of live sessions. Mini Pass participants can create during that block, submit work to the Global Gallery and select up to three Special Award categories. Mini Pass entries are not eligible for Gold, Silver or Bronze, or for the Guest Host Awards.

Replay Only

Replay Only gives access to the recordings after the event. Replay viewers are not eligible to submit work to the Global Gallery or enter the awards because eligible work must be created and verified during the live 24-hour event.

Before FLOWERTHON begins

Create your FLOWERTHON profile

Official gallery entries will be uploaded through the FLOWERTHON website. You will need a participant profile linked to the email address used for your ticket or team registration.

Set up your proof method

We will use a FLOWERTHON WhatsApp group so participants can share their progress live and enjoy seeing work emerge around the world.

WhatsApp is optional. If you do not use WhatsApp, cannot access it in your country or simply prefer email, send your start and finish photographs to info@flowerclubint.com instead. Email is an equally valid proof route and will not affect your eligibility.

Prepare your materials

Have your vessels, tools, mechanics, water, flowers and other permitted materials ready before the hour in which you plan to create. You may condition and prepare flowers beforehand, but the submitted arrangement itself must be created during the official 24-hour event.

Please source materials safely and legally. Foraged materials may be used only when collected from your own land or somewhere you have explicit permission to forage.

Label your start and finish photographs

Include your name or registered team name and a simple work reference—such as Work 1—with both photographs. This allows Flower Club to match each start photograph, finish photograph and gallery submission. The WhatsApp or email timestamps will show when the work was created.

What happens in each live hour

Each 60-minute Guest Host session follows a shared structure.

0–5 minutes: Welcome and introduction

The producer welcomes everyone, introduces the Guest Host and sets up the hour.

5–15 minutes: The Guest Host’s story, perspective and practice

The Guest Host shares the ideas, influences and approach behind their work.

15–35 minutes: Creative demonstration and participant making

The Guest Host demonstrates or explores a creative idea while participants begin making with their own flowers and materials. The purpose is inspiration and exploration. Participants should not copy the Guest Host’s exact arrangement.

35–55 minutes: Participant sharing and conversation

Two or three participants may be invited to share work in progress for a relaxed review and conversation with the Guest Host.

55–60 minutes: Closing and handover

The Guest Host closes the hour and the producer hands over to the next session.

How to create an eligible work

Step 1: Start with an empty vessel or untouched workspace

Immediately before you begin an arrangement, take a clear photograph showing the empty vessel or the untouched materials and workspace. The image must make it clear that the arrangement has not yet been created.

Send the photograph to the FLOWERTHON WhatsApp group or email it to info@flowerclubint.com.

For email, use this subject line:

FLOWERTHON START — [Your name or team name] — [Work reference]

Step 2: Create during the official event

Make the arrangement during the 24-hour FLOWERTHON period. Your work should be your own response to the session, materials, place or award brief. Previously completed work and portfolio work are not eligible.

You may be inspired by a Guest Host, but you must not reproduce the host’s exact demonstration. If you want the work to be eligible for that Guest Host’s Award, you must both start and finish it during that host’s scheduled 60-minute session and name that session on the submission.

Step 3: Record the finished work

As soon as the arrangement is finished, take a clear proof photograph before changing it or dismantling it.

Send the finished photograph through the same route you used for your start photograph.

For email, use this subject line:

FLOWERTHON FINISH — [Your name or team name] — [Work reference]

If you create more than one eligible arrangement, each submitted arrangement needs its own identifiable start and finish record.

Step 4: Keep the arrangement unchanged

After you send the finish photograph, you may improve the lighting, background and camera angle for the official gallery photograph. You may not make obvious structural or material changes to the arrangement. The finish record is what allows us to verify that the gallery image represents the work made during FLOWERTHON.

Step 5: Photograph and upload within 48 hours

You have 48 hours after the live event ends to take your best photographs, complete your profile and upload your official entry through the FLOWERTHON website.

The gallery deadline is 11:00 JST on Saturday 24 October 2026.

A smartphone photograph is completely acceptable. Professional photography is not part of the judging. Concentrate on making the work easy to see: use clear light, a calm background, a sharp image and an angle that represents the arrangement honestly.

Do not use filters, compositing, generative AI, object removal or digital changes that alter the work. Cropping and basic exposure correction are permitted only to represent the arrangement accurately.

If a genuine technical problem prevents you from using the website before the deadline, email info@flowerclubint.com before the deadline with your name, ticket email, proof records and images. This emergency route is not a substitute for creating your profile and completing the official website submission when you are able to do so.

What you will submit

Your participant profile

Your name or team name, location, short biography and profile image.

Your arrangement

The title of the work, the Guest Host session during which it was made, its work reference, a short description and the requested gallery photographs.

Your proof

The matching start and finish records sent through WhatsApp or email.

Your award choices

Full Live participants may select any of the 21 Special Awards that genuinely apply to their work, with no more than one entry per Special Award. Mini Pass participants may select up to three Special Awards. Gold, Silver, Bronze and the 24 Guest Host Awards are judging outcomes and cannot be selected.

Only select a category when your work meets its definition. Choosing more categories does not make an entry stronger.

If you are joining as a team

One standard ticket covers one participating location. People working together in the same studio, shop, classroom or home may take part collaboratively under that ticket.

If team members are joining from different physical locations, each location needs its own ticket. If each named participant wants to submit independently and be eligible for individual awards, use the Company Pack rather than one shared ticket.

Nominate one Group Host

The Group Host registers the team and coordinates access, proof records and submissions through the registered email address.

Decide whether you are making one collaborative work or several individual works

A team may create one arrangement together or different members may create different works. Under one shared ticket, the group may submit only one entry for any one FLOWERTHON Award. Entries may feature work made by different group members, but the team must decide which work represents it in each category.

Record every submitted work

Each work entered by the team must have matching start and finish records showing the registered team name, maker or makers and work reference.

Use the Floral Collaboration category when it fits

The Floral Collaboration Special Award celebrates work created collaboratively by two or more people. A team may enter the same work for more than one applicable award, and that work may win multiple awards when it genuinely meets each category’s definition.

Protect younger participants

A parent, guardian, school or responsible adult must manage the profile and submission for any participant under 18 and approve the public display of their name, biography and work.

How judging works

Eligibility comes first

Before judging, FLOWERTHON will verify that the work was created during the official event, has a matching start and finish record, was submitted before the deadline and meets the relevant ticket and award rules. Entries that cannot be verified may be excluded.

The work is judged, not the size of your following or your equipment

Judging is based on the floral work and its relationship to the relevant award. A professional camera, expensive materials, a large studio or a large social-media following does not create an advantage.

Photography must show the work clearly, but professional photography is not judged.

Originality and honesty matter

The work must be created by the participant or registered team. It must not be previous portfolio work, an exact copy of a Guest Host demonstration or another artist’s work, or an image materially altered by digital tools or AI.

Flower Club International Awards for Floral Excellence

Gold, Silver and Bronze are FLOWERTHON’s highest overall honours. Full Live entries are considered automatically; entrants do not select these awards.

The awards recognise outstanding floral work across the event. Every verified Full Live work is eligible; there is no preliminary shortlist. Guest Hosts and the FLOWERTHON community each submit a confidential Gold, Silver and Bronze ranking. Guest Host voting contributes 70% of the final score and community voting contributes 30%. If the combined scores are tied, the higher Guest Host score is the tie-breaker.

Community voting takes place through a passwordless FLOWERTHON website ballot. Voters open the ballot without creating an account, choose Gold, Silver and Bronze, enter an email address and confirm the ballot using a one-click email link. Only one confirmed ballot per email is counted, and entrants cannot vote for their own work. Instagram is used to share the voting link; Instagram likes, comments and polls do not count. Ballots are confidential, and FLOWERTHON will not publish turnout, vote totals, percentages or winning margins.

Guest Host Awards

Each of the 24 Guest Hosts selects one eligible work created during their own scheduled 60-minute session. The participant must identify the exact Guest Host and time slot on the submission. To qualify for that Guest Host Award, both the start and finish proof must be sent during the host’s actual session time. For example, a work entered for the Julia Rush Guest Host Award must have been started and finished during Julia Rush’s hour. A work completed outside the selected hour may still be eligible for Gold, Silver, Bronze and applicable Special Awards, but it is not eligible for that Guest Host Award.

### Special Awards

Each Special Award has its own brief. Judges consider how strongly the work answers that brief as well as the clarity, originality, material sensitivity and resolution of the floral work.

Flower Club International verifies eligibility before judging. Each Special Award is then judged anonymously by a panel of five FLOWERTHON Guest Hosts. Each host is assigned only four or five Special Award categories. For every assigned category, hosts rank their first, second and third choices; first place receives 3 points, second receives 2 points and third receives 1 point. At least three completed host ballots are required for an award. A tie is resolved through a confidential runoff by that category’s host panel. Voting totals, margins and the number of ballots cast are not published. The same arrangement may win multiple awards when it genuinely qualifies for each one.

All 21 Special Awards

1. Grower-Artist

For work created by someone who has grown the botanical materials they use.

2. Miniature Floral Art

For floral work measuring less than 5 cm, including the vessel.

Confirmed prize: Wazakura Yasugi Steel Satsuki Bonsai Scissors — 180 mm Japanese pruning scissors made in Sanjo, Niigata. Presented with Wazakura Japan.

3. Artist-Made Vessel

Celebrating the relationship between floral work and a vessel made by an artist.

4. Botanical Innovation

Creative work using botanical material without flowers.

5. Botanical Simplicity

One branch and one flower.

6. Personal Expression

For work with a strong sense of the maker’s own voice.

Confirmed prize: the Limited-Edition Full Bloom Set from Etchr Lab × Anna Bucciarelli. It includes two 100% cotton artist sketchbooks, a 19-well porcelain palette in a travel case, two exclusive floral tutorials with outlines and an exclusive printed artwork. Paints are not included.

7. Cultural Expression

For work exploring culture, tradition or cultural identity through flowers.

Confirmed prize: a four-book Rizzoli flower library comprising Orchids: Botanical Portraits by Robbie Honey, with a foreword by Shane Connolly; Flora Culture: How Flowers Shape Our World by Christin Geall; Ikebana: The Art and Beauty of Flower Arranging by Frédéric Girard; and Aerin Lauder: Living with Flowers by Aerin Lauder. Presented with Rizzoli.

8. Sense of Place

For work expressing something distinctive about the place where it was created.

9. Creative Interpretation

For floral work responding creatively to music.

10. Botanical Transformation

For work transforming botanical material in an unexpected way.

Confirmed prize: Botanical Metamorphosis, a Japanese-language floral-art book by Hideyuki Niwa. The book follows his process of observing, deconstructing and reconstructing familiar botanical materials into original floral art. Presented with Seibundo Shinkosha.

11. Unexpected Materials

For imaginative combinations of flowers, plants and unconventional materials.

12. Foraged Botanical Art

For work incorporating responsibly foraged materials collected where permitted.

13. Single-Variety Floral Art

For work exploring the possibilities of one variety of flower or botanical material.

14. Floral Collaboration

For work created collaboratively by two or more people.

15. Emerging Floral Artist

For floral artists aged 18–25.

Confirmed prize: a USD $1,000 Floral Design Institute Scholarship, usable on any Floral Design Institute online course. The scholarship is non-transferable and has no cash value.

16. Young Floral Artist

For participants under 18. A parent, guardian or responsible adult must approve and manage the public submission.

17. Emerging Practice

For participants who have been practising floral art for less than two years.

18. Farm-to-Vase

For work showing a direct relationship between locally grown flowers and the finished arrangement.

19. Floral Storytelling

For work communicating a strong story or idea.

20. Seasonal Expression

For work capturing the season where the maker is creating.

21. Community & Connection

For work embodying the spirit of creating and connecting through flowers.

Confirmed prize: Flower Moments by Natalie Gill and Meg Blancato of Native Poppy, with Erin Dollar. The book contains 38 arrangements and projects built around meaningful moments. It will be sent to the winner after publication by Timber Press.

Important award rules

Gold, Silver, Bronze and Guest Host Awards are not selectable categories.

Mini Pass participants may select up to three Special Awards only.

Full Live participants may select any of the 21 Special Awards that genuinely apply to their work, with no more than one entry per Special Award. They are considered automatically for Gold, Silver and Bronze. A Guest Host Award is available only when the work’s named session and start and finish proof show that it was made entirely during that Guest Host’s scheduled 60-minute slot. The same arrangement may be entered for and win multiple awards when it genuinely qualifies.

Replay Only viewers are not eligible for the awards.

Every submitted work must have matching start and finish proof.

Previously completed work is not eligible.

The arrangement may not be structurally or materially changed after the finish proof photograph.

Professional photography is not judged.

Digital alteration, compositing and generative AI are not permitted.

Category-specific rules still apply. For example, Miniature Floral Art must measure less than 5 cm including the vessel, Emerging Floral Artist is for ages 18–25, Young Floral Artist is for participants under 18, and Emerging Practice is for those practising for less than two years.

Support and accessibility

No participant will be excluded because they cannot use WhatsApp. Email proof to info@flowerclubint.com is equally valid.

If you need help with your ticket, profile, proof record or upload, contact info@flowerclubint.com and include the email address used to register.

Final checklist

Before the event

Confirm your ticket type, create your profile, choose WhatsApp or email for proof, prepare your materials and note the hours you plan to join.

When you start each work

Photograph the empty vessel or untouched workspace and send the start record with your name or team name and work reference.

When you finish each work

Photograph the finished arrangement immediately and send the matching finish record.

Within 48 hours

Take your best honest photographs, upload through your FLOWERTHON profile, select only the Special Awards that genuinely apply and submit by 11:00 JST on Saturday 24 October 2026.

Then celebrate what you made — and explore the Global Gallery to see how flowers connected people across the world.