Prepare yourself to be amazed by the floral artistry on display to celebrate Lunar New Year this week at Westfield Valley Fair.

Bay Area designers created 16 mannequin displays that explore different aspects of Lunar New Year traditions from red envelopes and gold coins to dragon dances and big family dinners. Of course, with this being the Year of the Snake, the designers found clever ways to incorporate that motif, as well.

But the most amazing thing is that — like with Rose Parade floats — everything is made with “botanicals”: fresh and dried flowers, fruit, plants, leaves, stems and seeds. The materials range from ordinary roses, tulips, moss and carnations to unexpected additions like acorn tops, yarrow, lotus seeds and cranberries.

Florists arrange flowers on mannequin-size creations for Fleurs de Villes at Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) 

“Lunaire” is a world premiere show from Fleurs de Villes, a Vancouver-based group that co-founder Karen Marshall describes as the “Cirque du Soleil of the floral world,” with 122 shows in five countries over the past seven years. Marshall and co-founder Tina Barkley were on hand for the opening Wednesday and congratulated the artists at a reception held at Eataly, a longtime partner that has one of the mannequins on its ground floor.

“We’re here to celebrate artistry. It’s our passion, it’s our purpose, it’s what we do,” Marshall said. “We want florists to be seen as artists and not be treated as suppliers.”

Rodney Agpaoa, one of the Bloomsters designers who worked on their “Gold Coin” display, said they started designing in early January and pulled some ideas they saw on Rose Parade floats. “That’s where we got a lot of inspiration from what we would need to use for different textures,” Agpaoa said. Knowing the display would need to be up for five days, Bloomsters opted to use heartier flowers, mixing fresh and preserved ones, that could last the week.

“Gold Coin” is one of five mannequins on display in the center court of the shopping center that straddles the San Jose/Santa Clara border. There is also a mannequin in the lobby at Santana Row’s Hotel Valencia, as well as two non-mannequin displays at Valley Fair: a floral ring at Blue Nile and an entry display at Creed.

Rodney Agpaoa, from Bloomster’s in San Jose, looks at their flower arrangement for Fleurs de Villes at Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) 

Westfield Valley Fair General Manager Sue Newsom thanked the Fleurs de Villes team and the “Lunaire” artists for transforming the mall into a museum.

“There is nothing better than seeing people smile, and if you walk downstairs today and see all the people mesmerized,” Newsom said. “There’s not even words to describe all the beautiful, meticulous details each of you have done on your exhibits.”

Like all floral displays, “Lunaire” is a bit ephemeral and will go away after Sunday. But visitors can see them during mall hours and vote for their favorite.

READING ROOM: I’ve been diving into this year’s trio of books selected for Silicon Valley Reads, all speaking to the theme of “Empowering Humanity: Technology for a Better World”: “The Worlds I See,” by Dr. Fei-Fei Li; “The Mountain in the Sea,” by Ray Nayler; and “Loneliness & Company,” by Charlee Dyroff.

The books — a memoir and two novels — have been fascinating takes on the subject of artificial intelligence, which is certainly timely. Apparently, you think so, too, as the kickoff event Thursday night at De Anza College is sold out.

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But you can still watch me interview the three authors on the livestream. Register for that, or check out any of the other 100-plus programs over the next two months, at siliconvalleyreads.org.

TIME FOR A SLICE: Wednesday marked the start of the first Silicon Valley Pizza Week, with more than 50 pizzerias and restaurants offering deals through Feb. 8. If you’ve seen any of the marketing for the promotion, you may have seen its “mascot” — a cartoon lightbulb with a word bubble saying “Insanely Grate!” And if you’ve been around awhile, I hope you recognize that as a clever cheese-related take on Steve Jobs’ famed quote.

While Silicon Valley Pizza Week is extra large — 11 days — that still doesn’t seem like enough time to get through all the different kinds of pizza we’ve got in the valley. Maybe Silicon Valley Pizza Month next time? Get all the details at siliconvalleypizzaweek.com.