Eurovision for trees reaches its zenith. Will Poland win again?

By Jules Darmanin | 03/25/2026 12:21 PM EDT

A contest set up to raise environmental awareness is scrambling to contain nationalist passions.

What makes a tree important?

Is it the ability to withstand storms, wars and human greed through the centuries? The people that rest in its shade, the lovers who carve their names, the playing children creating eternal memories?

Or is it just what country it grows in?

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The organizers of the European Tree of the Year contest, a relatively niche event on the Brussels social calendar, have been grappling with these questions for years.

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