Flower Festivals Blooming Around Australia
09-Sep-2011Australia's flower festivals mostly take place in the southern spring with the majority happening in September through November. An exception is Caloundra Ginger Flower Festival in sub-tropical Queensland which takes place in January.
So important a role do floral festivals play in the annual calendar that Australia Post, celebrated their contribution with the release of a special stamp issue on 8 March 2011. The five stamps in the issue feature colourful photographic depictions of popular flower species - the gerbera, jacaranda, Australian everlasting, violet and tulip.
"Australia's floral festivals are engaging events for gardening enthusiasts and local communities, and they have also become major tourist attractions. The number of floral festivals held throughout the country attests to Australians' love of flowers and gardening in general," said Australia Post's Philatelic Manager, Mr Michael Zsolt.
Judging by the thousands of locals and overseas visitors who flock to the stunning displays held in major cities and regional towns around the country Mr. Zsolt is on the money.
Festival Australia has taken a swift virtual tour around the Great South Land to see what is available for those who enjoy the beauty of flowers as much as we do ourselves.
New South Wales
The Southern Highlands of New South Wales is an easy, pleasant drive from Sydney.and the Illawarra. Each year over 100,000 tulips and 25,000 annuals are planted to transform Bowral's Corbett Gardens and other parks across the shire into stunning displays of sweeping spring colour. For the duration of the 14-day Tulip Time Festival you can enjoy a changing program of events including specialist shows o n the weekends. The 2011 displays take place from 20 September - 3 October, 2011. Just a further 60kms south along the Hume Highway
Goulburn’s Lilac City Festival ( 29 September - 3 October, 2011) is Australia's longest continuously-run community festival. It includes a festival procession, official opening, fireworks and entertainment. Festival activities include: street carnival, markets, floral displays, garden displays, citizen of the year, queen crowning, musical afternoon, children's day, pet parade, bands, dancing, champion dog, scarecrow competition, doll and teddy bear and craft show, auction, civic business display, Celtic folk band, Scottish and Irish dancers, achievers awards. 2011 is the 60th Anniversary of the festival.
One of New South Wales' premier gardening events is the Australian Springtime Flora Festival, will run from 8th to 11th September 2011 at Mt Penang Parklands, Kariong near Gosford on the Central Coast of NSW. This year is the 25th festival.
This award-winning event is one of the largest and most popular flora events in Australia. Interspersed among the flora displays and landscaped garden settings will be displays by associated commercial suppliers who help to provide the visitor with a total picture of outdoor, garden, lifestyle and home living. In total, there will be over 300 displays to view.
The world-renowned Jacaranda Festival is held yearly in Grafton, Northern Rivers New South Wales, from the last weekend in October to the first weekend in November.
Inaugurated in 1934, this was the first of Australia's folk festivals and is based upon the magnificent spectacle of the hundreds of lilac-blossomed trees which grow in Grafton's broad tree lined avenues.
One of Australia’s cooler climate areas, the Blue Mountains of NSW, provide a gorgeous back drop for spring displays.
The Leura Garden Festival (Sat 1st –Sunday 9th October, 2011) sees up to twelve gardens open to the public including the large private estate of 'The Braes' and the National Trust property 'Everglades'. Apart from Everglades the gardens featured in the Festival are all privately owned properties and visitors have an exclusive opportunity to not only see a wide cross section of the very best gardens the region has to offer but also to interact with some of the garden owners, many of whom are present in their gardens during the days of the Festival.
Held a bit further back down the range the annual Blackheath Rhododendron Festival is held traditional on the 1st Saturday in November The whole village at Blackheath comes alive with plenty of activities, shows, entertainment, displays and of course the floral arrangements & displays.
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) 
The Floriade Flower Festival in Australia's capital city is an annual festival filled with the scents, sounds and sights of the Canberra spring. Floriade (17 Sept – Oct 16, 2011) is the biggest flower festival in the country and is set in Canberra's Commonwealth Park. The event is held for a month, usually from around the second weekend of September to the October weekend after Labor For five nights there is also a Night Festival (Nightfest 2011 takes place 28 Sept –Oct 2) featuring leading music acts.
Victoria
Less than an hours drive from Melbourne, is the heavenly Tesselaar Tulip Festival (Sept 15 - Oct 12, 2011) started in 1954 with a dream of creating an amazing floral festival. Set on a working farm there is an unbelievable display of over half a million Tulips made up of more than a hundred different dreamy varieties.There is alos live entertainment daily, market stalls, a fantastical sculpture competition, theme and charity days.
Victoria’s Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne hosts an annual Wildflower Festival which usually runs from mid-Sept to early Oct whilst The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra, holds a Spring Open Day (Sunday 25 September, 2011, from 10am - 5pm. The latter is the biggest event on the Royal Botanic Gardens' calendar and a once-a-year opportunity to wander behind the scenes at the Gardens. Last year’s event drew 10,000 visitors for a day of free family fun. Don’t miss out this year - pack a picnic, bring the family and celebrate spring at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.
South Australia
The Willunga Almond Blossom Festival celebrates the beginning of the almond growing season in Enjoy street parades, tastings and sales of various almond products. It is usually held on the last weekend in July.
If you're a rose or garden lover you will thoroughly enjoy a visit to Renmark in October for their annual 10 day long Renmark Rose Festival. The festival started in 1995 and has continued each year in Spring when the roses and gardens of Renmark are at their best.
Western Australia
The Perth Wildflower Festival (September 1 -October 2, 2011) takes place at Kings Park and Botanic Garden in the first month of the Australian spring. Sin
ce 2007, the festival has become a month-long event starting on the first day of September. Known as Perth's Wildflower Festival, it is now more formally known as Kings Park Festival. The festival will celebrate Trees for Life, supporting the UN International Year of Forests
Queensland
As a farming and garden community, the inland Queensland city of Toowoomba celebrates its Carnival of Flowers in September, a festival that now takes place over 10 days bookended by two weekends. The 2011 Carnival of Flowers runs from September 16 to 25 with its Grand Central Floral Parade staged on September 17 and the Flower, Food and Wine Festival in Queens Park from September 16 to 18.
Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. the annual Ginger Flower Festival is attended by thousands paying homage to the spectacular array of ginger flowers showcased at the four-day event which takes place each January.
Tasmania
The Spring Tulip Festival hits Hobart’s Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens for a weekend in October. It’s a celebration both of spring and Tasmania’s cultural diversity. Amongst the colourful crowds of tulips, you’ll find a multicultural carnival of food, dance and music.
You’ll find more tulip celebrations in Wynyard, to Launceston’s north-west. Held in late September to early October, the Bloomin’ Tulips festival is three weeks of flower-themed fun.
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