The 2022 Almere Floriade, the plant and garden festival held every 10 years since 1960, will go down in history as the last one, the Dutch horticulture council NTR has decided.

The Almere festival, the seventh in the series, made a massive loss and struggled to attract enough visitors. Previous Floriades in Venlo, Haarlemmermeer and Zoetermeer also lost money.

The NTR said that organising events like the Floriade had become increasingly risky and complex, and was therefore less attractive to local councils and regional authorities.

The NTR is now looking at alternative ways to garner international attention for the Dutch horticultural sector.

The event was first held in Rotterdam in 1960 with the aim of strengthening the image of the Dutch horticulture sector, and to promote exports, but then expanded into an international plant and garden show with exhibitors from other countries.

However, the Almere festival only brought in 685,000 out of the target 2.8 million visitors and may have left the city with a €180 million loss, the Parool reported earlier this year. The event also led to the resignation of the city’s executive board.