Weaving the Crowns

Young unmarried men and women of Brankara engage in a popular tradition at the start of each summer, known as the Weaving of the Crowns. Hand picking the best wildflower blooms from the end of spring, they compete to weave flower crowns. The makers of the best crowns in each contest will be named the King and Queen of Summer, and are supposed to enjoy good luck and fertility - and share that same luck and fertility with their village.
The tradition is carried out in rural villages across Brankara, and the rules of the contest are strict; the flowers may only be picked by the one who will weave and wear them, and must be picked on the day of the contest. The young men and women of the village usually start searching for the blooms just after sunrise, finding cool and shadowed places to weave their crown once they believe they have the best and most suitable flowers. Often, they will plan the structure of the crown days or weeks in advance, carefully scouting out secluded patches of wildflowers to find flowers which they hope they will be able to use in the contest. It is not unknown for particularly competitive individuals to covertly plant seeds within patches, but there is no guarantee that the flowers will be ready on the day of the contest - or that, if the flowers are particularly unusual, they may be considered ineligible by the judges.
The bells of the village peal out at midday, summoning all the contestants with their crowns, where they are judged by a panel made up of village elders and former Kings and Queens of Summer. The winners are ceremonially 'crowned' with their own creations, before a great feast starts which lasts late into the night, with the newly-crowned 'royals' presiding at the head table.
The larger towns and cities of Brankara do not take part in the ritual itself, but it is commonplace for wealthy women, and some men, to wear crowns or tiaras of specially-grown fresh rare flowers, or jewelled replicas, to the early summer feasts and dances which celebrate the advent of summer.