The flower festivals worth travelling for
Gardener or not, just about everyone can appreciate the wondrous hues of the botanical world. Here, we discover some of the world’s most eye-catching flower festivals.
Sakura, Japan
The unofficial national flower of Japan, cherry blossoms play an important role in the country’s culture. Every spring, sakura (cherry blossom season) sees the blooms erupt with colour, with hanami (cherry blossom viewing) parties in full swing.
It’s hard to pick my favourite place to take in the spectacle, although the Japanese capital stands out for the sheer diversity of blooms. There are a number of parks in Tokyo popular for their blossoms including Shinjuku Goen, home to more than 1,000 cherry trees in dozens of varieties – it’s a great place for picnics and people watching on weekends.
One of the country’s most popular parks, Ueno, also features thousands of trees lining a long street where small stalls sell themed delicacies, including cherry blossom-flavoured soft serve. In Kyoto, Maruyama Park is the city’s most popular place for cherry blossom parties – at its heart is a large, weeping cherry tree that is lit up in the evenings. Hundreds of cherry trees also line Philosopher’s Path, a canal-side track that leads to Kyoto’s Silver Pavilion.
If you miss the cherry blossoms on the main island, you’ll still have a chance to glimpse them in Hokkaido, where trees bloom later in the year. Maruyama Park and Hokkaido Shrine, located next to each other, are always busy with hanami parties.
Japan’s cherry blossom season is roughly between mid-March and mid-April.
UK: Chelsea Flower Show
It only lasts for five days, but the Chelsea Flower Show makes the most of its moment in the spring sun. The Royal Horticultural Society has been hosting the event for more than a century, and it gets bigger and better with every instalment. Be warned – with so much visual stimulation and gardening advice around, you will be inspired to go home and get your hands dirty immediately.
One of my favourite additions to the show is the ‘Feel Good Gardens’ exhibit, designed to celebrate sights, scents, sounds, flavours and textures that will make you feel happier, calmer and generally better about the world. Plants here were chosen to enrich and indulge one of the five senses: touch, taste, smell, sight and sound.
Another highlight is the Great Pavilion, a paradise for plant lovers that is packed with exhibits and floristry. Incredible floral artists complete to create over-the-top displays: Jack Dunckley’s 2017 installation ‘The Bermuda Triangle’ was designed to resemble an active volcano surrounded by tropical planting, while Laurie Chetwood and Patrick Collins teamed up to create a flora sculpture that took inspiration from the Silk Road, replete with a bridge linking the different elements of the garden.
The Chelsea Flower Show runs roughly from 22 – 26 May.
USA: Tamiami International Orchid Festival
They come in all shapes, sizes and colours and from all corners of the globe – orchids are celebrated in all they delicate glory at this Florida flower festival.
The largest winter orchid show in the US, Tamiami sees vendors descend on Miami from around the world to showcase their special blooms, from Africa to the Amazon and everywhere in between. Which means that you can look forward to identifying many of the planet’s recognised 28,000 species of the plant.
Alongside exhibits there are showings of rare orchids and a number of specialty classes and lectures. While I was content strolling among the beautiful blooms, my dad signed up to learn more about basic orchid care and also find out tips and tricks for incorporating the flowers into his garden.
For stallholders, there’s a more serious element of the event, with judges choosing best-in-show flowers across a number of categories.
The Tamiami International Orchid Festival runs roughty from 12 – 14 January.
HOLLAND: Keukenhof
Tulips, windmills and sunshine…. It has to be Holland’s legendary Keukenhof. Also known as the Garden of Europe, this event in the south of the country is one of the world’s largest flower gardens, covering some 32 hectares and home to more than seven million spring-flowering bulbs. The sheer scale of the space can be overwhelming, with around 500 growers working with designers to create dozens of gardens in different styles.
While deliciously scented tulips steal the show, I’m also a repeat visitor to the English landscape garden, where paths wind through well-manicured displays, and the Japanese-themed garden, with cherry blossoms and water features.
While people come for the flowers, the entertainment is also worth lingering for. The festival culminates in an incredible floral parade, replete with elaborate floats, and part of the daily spectacle is live music, cooking demonstrations, hands-on workshops in floral arrangement and fashion parades. Don’t forget your camera.
Keukenhof will run roughly from 22 March to 13 May.
Written by Natasha Dragun. Republished with permission of MyConversation.