3 Nations Bonsai Festival in Mertzwiller brings 60 trees and 20 booths

Mertzwiller’s 3 Nations Bonsai Festival was less a local club show than a live snapshot of regional bonsai cooperation. At Espace Stéphane Grappelli, 14 Rue Louis Pasteur, the 8th edition brought together French, German and Luxembourgish clubs, with more than 60 trees on display and more than 20 professional booths filling out the room.

That international mix was the point. The festival sat under the patronage of the Fédération française de Bonsaï, and the organizer, Matsugawa Bonsaï Club, marked 2026 as its 40th anniversary year. Local notices also placed Matsugawa in Mertzwiller for decades, which fits the club’s role as the anchor for a show that has clearly outgrown the feel of a single-club gathering.

The program was built for traffic, not just display. The official listing promised activities and demonstrations alongside the exhibition trees, with the working languages set as German, French and Luxembourgish. That multilingual setup mattered because the event was explicitly aimed at the border region, not just one town or one club. It also drew in broader participation, with enthusiast listings naming professional exhibitors from France, Germany and Belgium, plus invited guests Nicolas Kitora Crivelli of Italy and Jörg Derlien of Germany.

The practical side was straightforward and affordable. Admission was listed at €4 for one day or €6 for two days, with children under 14 admitted free. Visitors also had free private parking, a bar, catering and toilet access, making the weekend feel more like a full cultural outing than a quick walk-through. One event page set the hours at 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 23, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 24; the tourist listing also described the festival as running from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

What stood out most was how many signals pointed to a healthy cross-border scene rather than a one-off exhibition. The trees came from clubs in three countries, the guests came from beyond the immediate region, and the language setup matched the audience the organizers wanted in the room. For a bonsai calendar crowded with routine club meetings, Mertzwiller showed a bigger model: a regional festival where collaboration, not just display tables, carried the show.