World Bromeliad Conference 2020

The World Bromeliad Conference 2020 will be held in Sarasota, Florida, USA from Tuesday, June 9, 2020 through Saturday, June 13, 2020 at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota. We will celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Bromeliad Society International! Events will include tours of two of the world’s leading Bromeliad nurseries (Michael’s Bromeliads and Tropiflora), a visit to the renowned Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (with free admission for conference registrants), a number of notable speakers, an opening conference reception and welcome address, a banquet with a rare plant sale and auction, a plant sale with numerous sellers, a fantastic judged plant show, and more.

The BSI has arranged for a special $149 room rate at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota (with no resort fees, normally $24+ daily) with free parking for hotel guests and conference visitors. All the rooms at the Hyatt provide water views and the hotel has a central downtown location with easy access to gardens, restaurants, museums, shopping, cultural activities, and world-renowned beaches. We will very soon be adding an online link here for hotel reservations. In order to catch all the planned events for WBC 2020, you would check into the hotel on Tuesday night, June 9th and stay through Saturday night, June 13th (checking out on Sunday). Of course, with all there is do in Sarasota and other nearby areas in Florida, you want want to extend your stay.

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Although the rainy season tends to start in parts of Florida as early as late May, Sarasota typically sees the rains delayed until late June or July because of the cooling breezes coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. Florida has the type of weather Bromeliads love, so it will be on the warm side and we will schedule our outdoor activities for the mornings.

Tropiflora

We are hard at work planning for World Bromeliad Conference 2020 and will be posting additional information here as it becomes available. Links for hotel reservations and conference registrations will be added here soon. To return directly to this Conference Corner webpage, just enter TheWBC2020.com in any browser. To contact the Conference Co-Chairs with any questions, you may email them at TheWBC2020@gmail.com.

Selby Gardens (Guzmania monostachia on the right)

 

This is just a few of the many attractions in Sarasota and nearby:

 

Museums:

John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
Ca’ d’Zan Mansion
Sarasota Classic Car Museum
South Florida Museum and Parker Manatee Aquarium

 

Shopping and Restaurants:

St. Armand’s Circle
Towles Court Art District
Pinecraft Amish Area (Yoder’s, Der Dutchman)

 

Outdoor Activities:

Lido Public Beach (complimentary beach shuttle from the hotel)
Siesta Beach on Siesta Key (heralded as “the finest, whitest sand beach in the world” and the best beach in the USA)
Sarasota Jungle Gardens