Slovenia, one of Europe's greenest countries, will explode with colour in May as the Bohinj International Wild Flower Festival returns with the theme 'Flowers and Bees'.

This year's festival opening coincides with World Bee Day, a United Nations initiative created in cooperation with The Slovenian Beekeepers' Association. In recent years, Slovenia has been identified as a leading beekeeping destination, creating honey therapy (apitherapy) programmes to emphasise how bees positively impact human lives.

Visitors to the festival will be treated to a 'bouquet' of bee-themed events including guided beekeeping study tours, honey tastings from a variety of blooms, lectures on natural and cultural history, artistic exhibitions including traditional embroidery workshops, wildflower cooking demonstrations, special family events, and how to build a 'bee hotel'.

As Europe's original wildflower festival, the main objective of the Bohinj International Wild Flower Festival is 'to build a sustainable future for people and nature'. This will be especially relevant as 2017 is the United Nation's Year of Sustainable Tourism and the festival is a credit to Slovenia's green credentials, having been rated the 'greenest country in the world' by the Green Destinations Network.

Bohinj is famous in the horticultural world for its incredibly diverse ecosystem. It is one of the best regions in which to see wild flowers in Europe and this annual celebration of local and international alpine flora celebrates the culture, nature and landscapes of the region.

Editor's Notes

About the festival
Established in 2007, the Bohinj International Wild Flower Festival (BIWFF) is a two-week environmental festival that focuses on the internationally recognised alpine flora of the area and celebrates the culture, nature and landscapes of Bohinj by promoting cultural and nature based in Slovenia. It was Europe's first Wild Flower Festival.
 
Bohinj International Wild Flower Festival is organised by Turizem Bohinj in conjunction with Triglav National Park. Borut Pahor, president of the Republic of Slovenia, is the honourable patron of the festival.
 
The main objective of the Bohinj International Wild Flower Festival is “To build a sustainable future for people and nature”.
http://www.bohinj.si/alpskocvetje/eng/index.php

20th May 2017 - World Bee Day
The Slovenian Beekeepers' Association has been working for many years on a variety of educational programmes to promote the importance of bees and beekeeping for ensuring food security and preserving natural biodiversity. In recent years, Slovenia has been identified as a destination in which beekeeping has been given special care, and the SBA presented the United Nations with a framework for the World Bee Day initiative.
http://www.slovenia.info/?news_items=5208&lng=5

How to get there
Wizz Air operates four weekly 2hr 20 min flights to Ljubljana on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from London Luton. Fares start from £18.49 for a one-way ticket, including taxes and non-optional charges. The Bohinj region is 46 minutes from Ljubljana airport by car and just over 2hrs by train.