Garden festival


A garden / flora festival or exposition 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.
To qualify as an international exhibition, an expo must be recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions, 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. To qualify as a national exhibition, a garden festival must be recognised by a national government.
Because garden design is becoming more popular and featuring on TV, 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)

CountryCityNameYearThemeBIE
recognised
Ruhr Region from Dortmund to DuisburgGreen Ruhr 20272027Stadt der StädteYes
Amsterdam-AlmereFloriade Amsterdam-Almere 20222022Growing Green CitiesYes
QatarDohaQatar Expo 20212021Green Desert, Better EnvironmentYes
BeijingExpo 2019 Beijing China2019Live Green, Live BetterYes
AntalyaExpo 2016 Antalya2016Flowers and ChildrenYes
VenloFloriade 2012 Venlo2012Be part of the theatre in nature; get closer to the quality of lifeYes
Chiang MaiInternational Horticultural Exposition Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 20062006To Express the Love for HumanityYes
RostockIGA Rostock 2003 – Internationale Gartenbauausstellung 2003 Hansestadt Rostock2003A Seaside Park. A new flowered worldYes
HaarlemmermeerFloriade 20022002The contribution of the Netherlands horticulture and international horticulture in the quality of life in the 21st centuryYes
KunmingInternational Horticultural Exhibition Kunming 19991999Man and Nature - Marching into the 21st centuryYes
StuttgartIGA Stuttgart 93 – V Internationale Gartenbauausstellung1993City and Nature - Responsible ApproachYes
ZoetermeerFloriade The Hague-Zoetermeer 19921992Horticulture is being involved in a continuous process of renewal in the field of quality, technique, science and managementYes
OsakaInternational Garden and Greenery Exposition, Osaka, Japan 19901990The Harmonious Coexistence of Nature and MankindYes
LiverpoolInternational Garden Festival Liverpool '841984The progress accomplished by International and National HorticultureYes
MunichIGA 83 München – IV Internationale Gartenbauausstellung1983International HorticultureYes
AmsterdamFloriade Amsterdam 19821982International HorticultureYes
MontrealFloralies Internationales de Montréal1980Relationship between man’s socio-cultural activities and his physical environmentYes
ViennaWIG 74 – Wiener Internationale Gartenschau 19741974International HorticultureYes
HamburgInternationale Gartenbauausstellung 731973International HorticultureYes
AmsterdamFloriade Amsterdam 19721972Efforts accomplished by International HorticultureYes
ParisFloralies Internationales Paris 19691969Flowers of France and Flowers of the WorldYes
ViennaWIG 64 – Wiener Internationale Gartenschau1964International HorticultureYes
HamburgIGA 63 – Internationale Gartenbauausstellung Hamburg 19631963Horticulture of all Categories from the Point of View of Economics and CultureYes
RotterdamFloriade International Horticultural Exhibition 19601960International HorticultureYes

List of other garden festivals