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 1984-92 but blundered through not planning an after-use for the festival grounds during their design and planning phase.
To qualify as an International Exhibition, a show must be recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which was established by a diplomatic international Convention, signed in Paris,in 1928. Shows 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.
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.
The last International Garden Festival is 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition (2010 Flora Expo), it's open on November 6, 2010 to April 25, 2011 in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan).
List of host nations and cities
| Country | City | Festival name | Year(s) | Dates | Type | AIPH classification[1] | BIE recognised[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Netherlands | Rotterdam | Floriade | 1960 | International | A1 | Yes | |
| Netherlands | Amsterdam | Floriade | 1972 | International | A1 | Yes | |
| Netherlands | Amsterdam | Floriade | 1982 | International | A1 | Yes | |
United Kingdom | Liverpool | International Garden Festival | 1984 | International | A1 | Yes | |
Japan | Osaka | Expo '90 | 1990 | April 1 - September 30 | International | A1 | Yes |
| Netherlands | The Hague | Floriade | 1992 | International | A1 | Yes | |
United States of America | Columbus, Ohio | AmeriFlora '92 | 1992 | April 3 to October 12 | National | No | |
China | Kunming | 1999 World Horticultural Exposition | 1999 | May 1 to October 31[3] | International | A1 | Yes |
| Netherlands | Haarlemmermeer | Floriade | 2002 | International | A1 | Yes | |
France | Dijon | Florissimo | 2005 | National | B2 | No | |
| China | Shenyang | 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 |
Thailand | Chiang Mai | Royal Flora Ratchaphruek | 2006–2007 | November 1 - January 31 | International | A1 | Yes |
| France | Dijon | Florissimo | 2010 | March 11–21 | National | No | |
Taiwan | Taipei | Taipei International Flora Exposition | 2010–2011 | November 6 - April 25 | International | A2/B1 | No |
Australia | Melbourne | Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show | 2011 | March 30 - April 3 | International | n/a | No |
| China | Xi'an | 2011 | April 22 - October 28 | International | A2/B1 | No | |
| Netherlands | Venlo | Floriade 2012 | 2012 | International | A1 | Yes | |
South Korea | Suncheon | Suncheon International Garden Expo(Korea) | 2013 | April 20 - October 20 | International | A1 | Yes |
| China | Qingdao |
International Horticultural Exposition 2014 |
2014 | April - October | International | A2/B1 | No |
| France | Dijon | Florissimo | 2015 | March | National | No | |
Turkey | Antalya | Expo 2016 | 2016 | International | A1 | No |
See also
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Garden shows. |
- International Garden Festival
- National Garden Festival, list of UK garden festivals
- Bundesgartenschau, list of German garden festivals
References
- Andrew C. Theokas Grounds for Review: The Garden Festival in Urban Planning and Design (Liverpool University Press, 2004 ISBN 0-85323-539-2)
Notes
- ↑ "AIPH Exhibitions, history". Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ↑ "International Horticultural Exhibitions". Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ↑ "World Horti-Expo Garden". Retrieved 22 January 2011.