Parys uses Flower Festival to boost Economy

The free state town of Parys, located in northern South Africa, started their annual flower festival over the weekend. During the festival, the streets came alive with love and hope. A total of 150,000 flowers were displayed on the floats used in the parade. Their were five different floats that represented the five districts of the province (SABC).

Here are one of the floats decorated with many flowers

The idea of boosting the economy through the flower industry came from the Madeira flower festival. Madeira has been hosting their annual flower festival for over 20 years. Madeira's flower festival also accumulates over 7 million tourists annually(SABC.com). The flower festival brings in much success for the economy of Madeira. By seeing how beneficial the flower festival is for Madeira, the Free State Town of Parys wants to use the flower industry to boost their own economy. Ace Magashule, the Free State Premier, says that "plans are afoot to create opportunity in the local flower industry." I believe that the expansion of the flower industry in Parys will create more revenue for the economy and overall become very beneficial. For example, more jobs will be created for the economy. Not only does this economically benefit Parys, but it also benefits the peoples well being. The flowers are used to express love which many of the townspeople love and enjoy. The townspeople talk about the festival in the video below.

-Kurtis

SABC News