A garden festival is a festival and exposition held to celebrate the arts of gardening, garden design, landscaping and landscape architecture. There are local garden festivals, regional garden festivals, national garden festivals and international garden festivals. The idea probably originated with Germany's Bundesgartenschau. The UK held five garden festivals in the period 1984–1992.

Landesgartenschau Gronau 2003

To qualify as an international exhibition, an expo must be recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which was established by a diplomatic international convention, signed in Paris, in 1928. Horticultural expos can also be recognised by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (IAHP / AIPH). To qualify as a national exhibition, a garden festival must be recognised by a national government.[clarification needed]

Because garden design is becoming more popular and featuring on TV,[when?] there is an ever-growing number of garden festivals: permanent and temporary, official and non-official. One of the best known is International Garden Festival held on a permanent site at Chaumont in France. Despite the name, Chaumont does not come within the BIE definition of an 'international' festival. Other shows feature garden design but describe themselves as 'flower shows'. The best-known example in this category, the Chelsea Flower Show, emphasises garden design. It spun off a Chelsea Fringe events in 2012 which featured a variety of unusual gardens and gardening across London.

List of International Garden Festivals (BIE recognised) edit

Country City Name Year Theme BIE
recognised[1]
  Germany Ruhr Region from Dortmund to Duisburg Green Ruhr 2027 2027 Stadt der Städte Yes
  Qatar Doha Qatar Expo 2021[2] 2023 Green Desert, Better Environment Yes
  Netherlands Amsterdam-Almere Floriade Amsterdam-Almere 2022 2022 Growing Green Cities Yes
  China Beijing Expo 2019 Beijing China 2019 Live Green, Live Better Yes
  Turkey Antalya Expo 2016 Antalya 2016 Flowers and Children Yes
  Netherlands Venlo Floriade 2012 Venlo 2012 Be part of the theatre in nature; get closer to the quality of life Yes
  Thailand Chiang Mai International Horticultural Exposition Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006 2006 To Express the Love for Humanity Yes
  Germany Rostock IGA Rostock 2003 – Internationale Gartenbauausstellung 2003 Hansestadt Rostock 2003 A Seaside Park. A new flowered world Yes
  Netherlands Haarlemmermeer Floriade 2002 2002 The contribution of the Netherlands horticulture and international horticulture in the quality of life in the 21st century Yes
  China Kunming International Horticultural Exhibition Kunming 1999 1999 Man and Nature - Marching into the 21st century Yes
  Germany Stuttgart IGA Stuttgart 93 – V Internationale Gartenbauausstellung 1993 City and Nature - Responsible Approach Yes
  Netherlands Zoetermeer Floriade The Hague-Zoetermeer 1992 1992 Horticulture is being involved in a continuous process of renewal in the field of quality, technique, science and management Yes
  Japan Osaka International Garden and Greenery Exposition, Osaka, Japan 1990 1990 The Harmonious Coexistence of Nature and Mankind Yes
  Great Britain Liverpool International Garden Festival Liverpool '84 1984 The progress accomplished by International and National Horticulture Yes
  Germany Munich IGA 83 München – IV Internationale Gartenbauausstellung 1983 International Horticulture Yes
  Netherlands Amsterdam Floriade Amsterdam 1982 1982 International Horticulture Yes
  Canada Montreal Floralies Internationales de Montréal 1980 Relationship between man’s socio-cultural activities and his physical environment Yes
  Austria Vienna WIG 74 – Wiener Internationale Gartenschau 1974 1974 International Horticulture Yes
  Germany Hamburg Internationale Gartenbauausstellung 73 1973 International Horticulture Yes
  Netherlands Amsterdam Floriade Amsterdam 1972 1972 Efforts accomplished by International Horticulture Yes
  France Paris Floralies Internationales Paris 1969 1969 Flowers of France and Flowers of the World Yes
  Austria Vienna WIG 64 – Wiener Internationale Gartenschau 1964 International Horticulture Yes
  Germany Hamburg IGA 63 – Internationale Gartenbauausstellung Hamburg 1963 1963 Horticulture of all Categories from the Point of View of Economics and Culture Yes
  Netherlands Rotterdam Floriade International Horticultural Exhibition 1960 1960 International Horticulture Yes

List of other garden festivals edit

Country City Festival name Year(s) Dates Type AIPH
classification[3]
BIE
recognised[1]
  United States Columbus, Ohio AmeriFlora '92 1992 April 3 – October 12 International   No
  France Dijon Florissimo 2005, 2010, 2015   National B2 No
  Brazil Festival de Holambra ExpoFlora[4] 2005   National B2 No
  China Shenyang International Horticultural Exposition 2006 2006 May 1 – October 31 International A2/B1 No
  Singapore Singapore Singapore Garden Festival 2006
and biennially since
December 16–25 International n/a No
  Myanmar Pyin Oo Lwin National Kandawgyi Gardens 2005–2017 December National N/A No
  France Dijon Florissimo 2010 March 11–21 National   No
  Republic of China Taipei Taipei International Flora Exposition 2010–2011 November 6 – April 25 International A2/B1 No
  Australia Melbourne Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show 1995— March 30 – April 3 International n/a No
  China Xi'an International Horticultural Exposition 2011 2011 April 22 – October 28 International A2/B1 No
  South Korea Suncheon Suncheon International Garden Expo(Korea) 2013 April 20 – October 20 International A2/B1 No
  China Jinzhou International Horticultural Exposition 2013 2013 May 10 – October 31 International A2/B1 No
  China Qingdao Qingdao International Horticultural Exposition 2014 2014 April 25 – October 25 International A2/B1 No
  France Dijon Florissimo 2015 March National   No
  China Tangshan Tangshan International Horticultural Exposition 2016 2016 May – Oct International A2/B1 No[5]
  Republic of China Taichung 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition 2018 Nov. 3, 2018-Apr. 24, 2019 International A2/B1 No
  Australia Canberra Floriade, Canberra 1988— September 16 — October 15, 2023 National No
  China Yangzhou Yangzhou International Horticultural Exposition 2021 2021 April 8 – October 8 International A2/B1 No

References edit

  • Andrew C. Theokas Grounds for Review: The Garden Festival in Urban Planning and Design (Liverpool University Press, 2004 ISBN 0-85323-539-2)
  1. ^ a b "International Horticultural Exhibitions". Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  2. ^ Expositions, Bureau International (7 June 2019). "Qatar develops "Green Desert" vision for Horticultural Expo 2021 Doha". BIE. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  3. ^ "International Horticultural Exhibitions: History of exhibitions". AIPH. Archived from the original on 22 November 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  4. ^ "40ª Expoflora • Holambra | O Maior Festival de Flores e Plantas do Brasil". Expoflora Holambra. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  5. ^ "AIPH | Exhibitions, actual programme". Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.

External links edit