Geenzefest: Wiltz's colorful broom festival

Each Whit Monday, the town of Wiltz in the Ardennes region comes to life for the Broom Festival. Known as the Gënzefest or Geenzefest in local dialect, the festival honours the broom, a bush with yellow flowers that grows abundantly on the hills of the Éislek region in the north of Luxembourg. Thousands of spectators visit the town to have fun and especially to see the Broom Queen and her parade.

The festival of the golden landscape

In the month of May, the Luxembourg landscape is dotted with bright yellow bushes that adorn the meadows and forests and remind us that summer is coming. The name of this plant is broom, and in northern Luxembourg it has its very own festival. Every Whit Monday, a "Broom Festival" or Geenzefest takes place in Wiltz, the town affectionately known as the "capital of the Ardennes".

Originally devised as a festival to celebrate the beauty of the local landscape, over the years the Geenzefest has become one of Luxembourg's major folk festivals, attracting nearly 10,000 people to the streets of Wiltz every year.

The Geenzefest is organised by the association "Les Amis de la féerie du genêt de Wiltz" (the friends of the Broom Festival of Wiltz). It is best known for its impressive flowering broom parade: over 40 floats and national and international folk music bands parade through the streets of the town on Whit Monday.

Entertainment for all

On top of the flowering broom parade, the Whit weekend features an extensive programme of entertainment: exhibitions, the crowning of the Broom Queen, a flea market, folk displays, concerts, shows and the broom dance – there is something in store for everyone.

Celebrated since 1948, the Broom Festival was an idea of photographer Tony Mander and his friends. Their objective was to celebrate the beauty of the landscape and celebrate the singing, music and folklore of the Ardennes. At this time of the year, broom bathes the Eislek's landscapes in shades of golden yellow.