# Garden festival

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.
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.
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)

| Country | City | Name | Year | Theme | BIE recognised |
| Germany | Ruhr Region from Dortmund to Duisburg | Green Ruhr 2027 | 2027 | Stadt der Städte | Yes |
| Qatar | Doha | Qatar Expo 2021 | 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

| Country | City | Festival name | Year(s) | Dates | Type | AIPH classification | BIE recognised |
| United Kingdom | Stoke-on-Trent, England | Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival | 1986 | 1 May – 26 October | National | | No |
| United Kingdom | Glasgow, Scotland | Glasgow Garden Festival | 1988 | 28 April – 26 September | National | | No |
| United Kingdom | Gateshead, England | Gateshead Garden Festival | 1990 | 1 May – 4 October | National | | No |
| United Kingdom | Ebbw Vale, Wales | Ebbw Vale Garden Festival | 1992 | 1 May – 4 October | National | | No |
| United States | Columbus, Ohio | AmeriFlora '92 | 1992 | 3 April – 12 October | International | | No |
| France | Dijon | Florissimo | 2005, 2010, 2015 | | National | B2 | No |
| Brazil | Festival de Holambra | ExpoFlora | 2005 | | National | B2 | No |
| China | Shenyang | International Horticultural Exposition 2006 | 2006 | 1 May – 31 October | International | A2/B1 | No |
| Singapore | Singapore | Singapore Garden Festival | 2006 and biennially since | 16–25 December | International | n/a | No |
| Myanmar | Pyin Oo Lwin | National Kandawgyi Gardens | 2005–2017 | December | National | N/A | No |
| France | Dijon | Florissimo | 2010 | 11–21 March | National | | No |
| Republic of China | Taipei | Taipei International Flora Exposition | 2010–2011 | 6 November – 25 April | International | A2/B1 | No |
| Australia | Melbourne | Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show | 1995— | 30 March – 3 April | International | n/a | No |
| China | Xi'an | International Horticultural Exposition 2011 | 2011 | 22 April – 28 October | International | A2/B1 | No |
| South Korea | Suncheon | Suncheon International Garden Expo(Korea) | 2013 | 20 April – 20 October | International | A2/B1 | No |
| China | Jinzhou | International Horticultural Exposition 2013 | 2013 | 10 May – 31 October | International | A2/B1 | No |
| China | Qingdao | Qingdao International Horticultural Exposition 2014 | 2014 | 25 April – 25 October | 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 |
| Republic of China | Taichung | 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition | 2018 | 3 Nov. 2018 – 24 Apr. 2019 | International | A2/B1 | No |
| Australia | Canberra | Floriade, Canberra | 1988— | 16 September — 15 October 2023 | National | | No |
| China | Yangzhou | Yangzhou International Horticultural Exposition 2021 | 2021 | 8 April – 8 October | International | A2/B1 | No |