Head over to Gardens by the Bay over the next nine days for a floral frenzy of fabulous displays, fun activities, live performances and a cool market too...
If you love flowers, and you are looking for some weekend family-fun, then head over to Gardens by the Bay during the next nine days, where the sixth edition of perennial fave, the Singapore Garden Festival (SGF), will be blooming with a host of activities sure to be a hit for the old, the young and the in-between alike. Expect fantasy and landscape show gardens, floral windows, a brand new exhibit in the Flower Dome, festival-feel performances by local musicians, and a fabulous market full of food, offering eats and drinks, arts ‘n’ crafts and a ton of gardening goodies so you can take some gorgeous green back to your own homes.
The festival has been put together by the National Parks Board (NParks) and Gardens by the Bay, to bring a love of gardening and nature to Singapore, and this is the largest show yet! We are talking a whopping 9.7 hectares of flora fun, folks!
Major highlights of the festival include:
- 15 Fantasy and Landscape Show Gardens, featuring huge creations by top award-winning gardening luminaries from Australia, China, France, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States of America. That’s a lot of garden design talent!
- 14 Floral Windows to the World which will include dazzling displays of cut-flower displays and floral masterpieces featuring stunning set design and lighting by international floral designers.
- The flower dome has a new display – Orchid Extravaganza – showcasing over 100 species of Singapore’s national flower!
- Five Balcony Gardens designed as inspirational displays for those of us with smaller homes, so we can check out how to transform our balconies or tiny terraces into a botanical showcase!
- Six table-top floral displays set up beautifully with fresh flowers, cutlery and decorative accessories. Prepare for table-setting envy: this is a competition for both professionals and amateurs to out-floral each other in the quest for a prize.
- Teams of students will be taking up the Landscape Design Challenge, when they are tasked with turning a 3m by 3m empty space into a garden within just five hours!
- We love a mini-garden, so can’t wait to check out the Terrarium Exhibition which will be showcasing more than 50 terrariums created by the public, hobbyists and community gardeners.
- A buzzy marketplace with over 100 booths to browse for everything from arts ‘n’ craft to gardening and landscaping supplies, while being serenaded by nightly performances by local musicians.
- Head over to the Gardeners’ Cup goings-on where a whopping 60 groups of community gardeners have been split into five teams to compete for the honour of creating the best show garden.
- Other fun-filled line-ups include the Garden Fiesta, featuring talks, demonstrations and workshops about all things garden, and the Penjing & Artistic Stone Exhibition & Competition 2016.
Ticketing
Tix can be purchased from Visitor Service Counters at Singapore Botanic Gardens, Ticketing Counters at Gardens by the Bay, www.singaporegardenfestival.com and www.gardensbythebay.com. Selected credit and membership card holders (namely PAssion Card, NTUC Plus!, SAFRA Card) will bag a 10-20% discount off the local resident rates for SGF tickets. Tourists can also snap up a 10-20% discount off of standard rates for Gardens by the Bay Conservatory tickets, in conjunction with selected boarding pass and travel promotions. The festival will also feature a special non-ticketed area, giving more visitors the chance to join in with the fun, and freebie events include nightly performances at the Alfresco Stage, Bayfront Plaza by cool local acts including Gentle Bones, Jack & Rai, Jive Talkin’, Shirlyn & the UnXpected and 53A. Performances are suitable for the whole family, so come on down and rock the night away from 6pm.
Photography: Singapore Garden Festival