From floating gardens in France to immersive floral exhibits in the USA, we highlight some of the best horticultural events around the world with our pick of the top ten garden festivals and flower shows to visit around the world.
We can also recommend some of the best garden shows and events in the UK.
International garden festivals and shows
International Garden Festival, Chaumont-sur-Loire, France
An annual contemporary garden and landscape festival where a range of professionals, from garden designers to artists, create show gardens that are open to visitors from April to November. Each year the festival has a different focus, and themes in previous years have included Resilient Gardens, Paradise Gardens and Return to Mother Earth. Set in the grounds of the incredible Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, a visit to the International Garden Festival also provides the opportunity to take in the impressive château and its historic grounds. domaine-chaumont.fr
Radicepura Garden Festival, Sicily, Italy
This biennial event takes place against the backdrop of the smoking dome of Mount Etna, and is dedicated to Mediterranean garden design. Each festival is built around a different theme, and asks one established designer to create a show garden that remains on the site – in 2023 it was Paolo Pejrone, and previously Andy Sturgeon and James Basson. Students of landscape architecture, architecture, art and other related disciplines from all around the world are also invited to design temporary, concept-driven schemes, which are then constructed by young landscapers. The festival grounds are also home to a new botanic garden and several art installations. The show is the brainchild of the family that runs the Piante Faro nursery on the island. The next festival takes place in 2025 and runs from May to December. radicepura.it\en
Singapore Garden Festival
This biennial garden show, previously held at the stunning Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, features show gardens by local and international designers as well as floral art, demonstrations and plant exhibits. Previous festivals have featured work by UK garden designers such as Tony Woods, Kate Gould and Tom Massey. “Designers from all over the world come together to exhibit, and experimental designs, materials and plant choices are encouraged,” explains Tom. “Singapore is known as the ‘Garden City’ so around and outside of the show there is plenty of inspiring landscape and garden design to see.” 3-11 August 2024. sgf.nparks.gov.sg
Melbourne International Garden Show, Australia
A hall of fresh market flowers, a sculpture exhibition, beautiful heritage buildings, floral displays and inspiring show gardens by local and international designers are just some of the attractions at Australia’s largest flower show. The show is held every March in and around Melbourne’s UNESCO-listed Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens, which were designed for the great international exhibitions of 1880 and 1888. In 2024, a Balcony Garden Competition will celebrate small-space gardening, alongside workshops, seminars, and demonstrations. 20-24 March 2024. melbflowershow.com.au
Orticolario, Italy
Around 300 exhibitors converge every autumn for this glamorous Italian gardening show, which is held in the grounds of the magnificent 19th-century Villa Erba, Cernobbio, an exceptional setting on the western shore of Lake Como in northern Italy. The event brings together top designers, nurseries and garden product companies, all with an eye to the very best in gardening, art and design. As well as vibrant installations and displays, there are talks, creative workshops, entertainment and seasonal food and drink. Many visitors arrive at the show in style, crossing the lake on a shuttle boat from the city of Como, and disembarking on the villa’s jetty. 3-6 October 2024. eng.orticolario.it
Philadelphia Flower Show, USA
This marquee event at the Pennsylvania Convention Center has been running for almost two centuries and is known around the world for its spectacular, immersive floral exhibits and plant competitions. The show takes place each spring and the theme for this year is United by Flowers, celebrating the connective power of gardening and how it brings people and communities together. The show attracts thousands of people from the East Coast and further afield keen to see the riot of colour and maximalist floral arrangements as the space is transformed by large-scale creations. 2-10 March 2024. phsonline.org/the-flower-show
Bloom, Ireland
Ireland’s largest gardening event, Bloom, is a festival for flowers, food and family, and takes place each year over five days in 70 acres of the Phoenix Park in Dublin, from 9am to 6pm daily. In 2024, the event celebrates its 18th year with its usual mix of show and feature gardens, plant displays, food and crafts events, and stands from an array of lifestyle, design and horticulture exhibitors. 30 May – 3 June 2024. bordbiabloom.com
International Garden Festival, Jardins de Métis, Canada
Reford Gardens, also known as Jardins de Métis, on the south shore of the St Lawrence River northeast of Quebec City, were created by Elsie Reford, who from 1926 to 1958 transformed an old fishing camp and stretch of forest into a magnificent network of gardens. It makes an inspiring setting for the annual International Garden Festival, which since 2000 has featured over 250 gardens and installations by designers from 15 countries. Known for innovation, activism and artistic concepts, it draws participants from many disciplines. 22 June – 6 October 2024. internationalgardenfestival.com
International Garden Festival, Hortillonnages, Amiens, France
A maze of floating gardens greets visitors to this unique annual festival, spread across the Hortillonnages, a network of waterways and cultivated islets spanning 740 acres in the heart of Amiens. The area was shaped by generations of hortillons, market gardeners who worked with the marshy terrain of the old bed of the River Somme, and the name has its origins in the Latin hortus, meaning garden. The festival promotes landscape, architectural and artistic creation, and visitors can explore by foot and by boat. From summer until autumn. artetjardins-hdf.com
Tulip Festival Amsterdam
Tulip Festival Amsterdam comprises a collection of flower events that take place around and near the Dutch capital in spring, including the Dutch Flower Parade with its spectacularly decorated floral floats and tours of the region’s world-famous tulip fields. Keukenhof Gardens is a core venue for the event, and celebrates its 75th anniversary this year with 79 acres of brilliant floral displays. Some seven million spring-flowering bulbs were planted last autumn in a variety of colourful schemes set to bloom throughout the season. Visitors can admire the displays from the park’s ten miles of hiking trails. 21 March – 12 May 2024. tulipfestivalamsterdam.com