A professional floristry workshop titled 'Flowers Connect People' was held in Špičkovina on Sunday and Monday, 8 and 9 November. The event gathered 30 participants who had the opportunity to learn from the current world floristry champion, florist Tomasz 'Max' Kuczyński. Kuczyński was the winner of last year's World Cup in The Hague, and he arrived in Zagorje at the invitation of Magdalena Kahlina, owner of Lara Florist in Dubrava Zabočka.
According to Magdalena Kahlina, as far as she is aware, this is the first time a World Cup winner has held such a workshop in Croatia. The workshop took place in the premises of the Špičkovina Volunteer Fire Brigade (DVD), and florists from Slavonia, Čakovec, Istria and Dalmatia attended, joined by a colleague from Serbia. Kuczyński prepared four projects for the participants: they made two Christmas trees, an Advent wreath and a star-shaped bouquet. On Monday evening, at a ceremony, certificates were awarded to the participants.
Kuczyński is a good friend of Magdalena's, and the idea for the workshop arose from a brief conversation about him showing her Zagorje. Magdalena said it was an opportunity for her to organise a professional workshop in her own area, the kind she had attended elsewhere for years. 'This has been a long-standing wish of mine, to do something wonderful like this in Zagorje, and I think I succeeded,' Magdalena said. She added that it meant a lot to her that she hosted the world champion in Špičkovina, her neighbouring village, and thanked her husband, daughter, son and parents, who helped with the preparation and organisation.
At the certificate ceremony, Kuczyński said that he leads workshops around the world and that others could take inspiration from the organisation he found in Zagorje. He thanked Magdalena for her hospitality, flowers and space, and praised the participants for their work. 'It was a great pleasure to be with you, work with you and share some of my knowledge and inspiration with you,' Kuczyński said.
The attendees were greeted by Zabok mayor Valentina Đurek, who thanked Kuczyński for sharing his knowledge with local florists. She congratulated Magdalena on organising the workshop and on her appearance in The Hague last year. 'Once again, big congratulations to you, Magdalena, for representing Zabok and Krapina-Zagorje County in The Hague last year and bringing us closer to this, I would say, art of flowers,' Đurek said.
Magdalena Kahlina won the National Floristry Championship in 2024 at the Diocletian's Cellars in Split. Her work, 'Table for Two', for which she shaped flower containers from the wax of around 540 candles, was subsequently awarded at the Floraart in Zagreb. Her victory in Split qualified her for the World Cup in The Hague, where she represented Croatia and where Kuczyński won. Magdalena incorporated a Zagorje licitar heart into one of her competition bouquets in The Hague. 'Certainly, I have big plans for the future, I will not stop here. This is just the first one,' Magdalena said.
