After 26 years, Ghent’s Floralien floral art festival has returned to the Belgian city.

The showstopper exhibit is floral artist Tomas De Bruyne’s one-ton chandelier at the end of the floral circuit – and it’s worth the wait. In fact, it’s worth the journey from Kent just to witness his artistry.

Sunlight pours through St Peter’s Church glass dome, in Sint-Pietersplein, showering a rainbow of colour from De Bruyne’s floral and crystal chandelier.

After plenty of walking in the beautiful city visitors can take a pew and allow themselves to be mesmerised by De Bruyn’s bejewelled creation, complemented by his carefully chosen music, a contemporary version of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons ‘Summer’, which reverberates around the baroque building.

The festival is an international affair and De Bruyne enjoyed the assistance of floral artists Hitomi Gilliam, from Canada, and Natalia Zhizko, from Russia, to help him complete the giant chandelier.

De Bruyne, who comes from Ghent, is an international floral artist whose work is sought by Saudi princes to global companies. He is passionate about his art and was proud to be exhibiting in his home town.

He said: “I wanted to show great respect to the St Peter’s Church and make it even more beautiful with the chandelier, changing lights and music.”

Ghent Floralien is a 10-day festival which runs until May 1, 2016. Visitors buy a day ticket at the Museum of Arts in Citadel Park to Bijloke, Leopoldskazern and finally, Sint-Pietersplein.

The Floralien festival has been running for centuries but there have been a few gaps. The city has now revived the concept and it will run every four years, in the same cycle as the Olympics.

FACTFILE

Take Eurostar (www.eurostar.com) from Ashford International to Brussels-Midi and the service links well with the train to Ghent. Go to platform 9 and take the Bruges train to Ghent, journey time 30 minutes.

Visit www.floralien.be/en or www.visitgent.bewww.eurostar.com