Floral Designer From Estonia Clinched The Grand Prize At The FWWC During The SGF 2024

Ahti Lyra from Estonia, the Grand Champion of the Floral Windows to the World Championship receiving the Grand Champion award from Ms Chang Hwee Nee, CEO, National Heritage Board

Singapore, 5 August 2024 - Ahti Lyra from Estonia has clinched the top award of Grand Champion at the Floral Windows to the World Championship (FWWC) as part of Singapore Garden Festival (SGF) 2024. This is the first time a designer from Estonia has participated in SGF. Also receiving their accolades from Guest of Honour, Ms Chang Hwee Nee, CEO of National Heritage Board, at the award ceremony earlier today are Hung Mo Joo, Momo from Republic of Korea and Hiroto Inoue from Japan, who won the first and second runner-ups respectively.

The competition returned in a refreshed live format for the first time after a six-year hiatus and took place between 3 and 5 August 2024, at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre. This year’s FWWC featured 16 competitors from around the world competing against each other in a series of six live tasks in front of judges and visitors. Each competitor has a minimum of five years of experience in the floral industry or in various international floral competitions.

The refreshed FWWC was judged by renowned international floral designers:

• Mrs Alison Bradley (Head Judge), Director and Co-Founder of Floral Fundamentals, Scotland

• Mr Takumi Nakaya, President of Floral School “Madka”, Japan

• Mr Harijanto Setiawan, International Master Florist, Singapore

• Ms Petra Konrad, Master Designer and CEO of FlowerArt Academy, Germany

• Mr Bart Hassam, International Floral Designer and 2019 Floral World Cup Champion, Australia

• Mr Max van de Sluis, Flower Designer of Life 2, The Netherlands

Mrs Alison Bradley, Head Judge for FWWC and Director and Co-Founder of Floral Fundamentals, commented on the quality of the participants this year: “The refreshed format takes on a different challenge and creates excitement for both designers and visitors. The quality of the displays created under time pressure has been superb. The surprise tasks for this competition are world-class and have broken new boundaries.” An award-winning creative floral designer herself, Mrs Bradley was also a judge at the Floral Windows to the World editions in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. 

The themes of the tasks ranged from “Designer’s Choice” and “Bridal Bouquet” to “Table for Two”, challenging the designers on their versatility and adaptability. The final three tasks were surprise packages, “Unexpected Host”, “A Gift for Singapore” and “Blossoming Finale”.

The Grand Champion in the competition, Ahti Lyra from Estonia, shared that, “For the competition, I thought hard about how to share my culture, representing my country of 1.3 million people, and what would be interesting for Singaporeans to see. My inspiration ranged from nature to Estonian smoke saunas and black bread.” Ahti shared this as advice for floral designers, “work hard and compete not for the judges, but for yourself.”