La Massana Launches 32nd Andoflora 2026 Festival with VIPs and Sensory Exhibits

La Massana parish launched the 32nd edition of Andoflora 2026 on Thursday, reinforcing its status as a key event for local identity, commerce, and drawing visitors during spring's low occupancy periods.

The opening attracted high-profile attendees, including Head of Government Xavier Espot, General Syndic Carles Ensenyat, and Superior Council of Justice president Josep Maria Rossell. Cònsol major Eva Sansa called the festival a core part of parish life, with strong participation from local cultural groups such as Esbart Valls del Nord, Escola de Música de les Valls del Nord, and Grossband. Espot praised its role in supporting businesses and tourism desestacionalització, aligning with Andorra's carrying capacity study by spreading visitors across the year through events like Andoflora and ClàssicAnd. Sansa echoed this, citing May's reduced occupancy and comparable initiatives including Vide Dressing and Pujada Arinsal.

A highlight is the Echoes Espai Experiencial Andbank at Museu La Massana Còmic, open through Sunday. This sensory installation merges art, nature, and technology, enabling visitors and school groups to engage with plants that trigger real-time visuals and soundscapes from their impulses. Marc Colomines of Blit Studio described it as a sensory ecosystem fostering dialogue between people and plants.

It anchors the Ruta Interpretativa, featuring a luminous garden in Plaça de les Fontetes, floral displays in roundabouts and Plaça de l'Església, and a photographic exhibition at Mola de cal Quico. Under the "Plants that Care" theme, activities link nature to wellbeing through ethnobotany walks, wild cooking with Ben Plantades, floral dishes from local restaurants with public voting via the La Massana + app, medicinal plant workshops, horticulture sessions, and heritage uses. New nighttime floral lighting, sponsored by Nord Andorrà, illuminates key areas, with Sansa noting it makes the parish "shine."

Organisers responded to exhibitor feedback by expanding market space at Prat Gran, separating artisans from florists for better flow, and reserving parking there for buyer loading. The market opens Friday at 12:30pm with about 20 stands from florists, plant sellers, and food trucks, kicked off by Escola de Dansa Impuls's choreography "El llenguatge secret de les flors."

Thursday's Viles Florides session for schoolchildren featured Roger Parcerisas explaining plants' roles in oxygen production, food, construction, energy, clothing, and medicine, along with their care needs. Each pupil planted a lavender to track at home, followed by a nature-and-wellbeing literary workshop.

Friday brings more Viles Florides school events and a professionals' forum at Hotel Rutllant on biodiversity, landscape management, climate change, sustainable green spaces, and green infrastructure's mental health benefits. The weekend focuses on the market, children's workshops, music, exhibitions, and outreach, culminating in Old School's 8:30pm concert in Plaça de les Fontetes on Saturday.