The 2020 Garden Festival starts right now

Meg and Brian Claxton and festival director Marc Anderson.

The call has gone out to Bay of Plenty gardeners.

With spring in the air, and summer not far off, the hunt is officially on to find new gardens to add to the Bay of Plenty Garden and Art Festival, even though the event is still over a year away.

'We need to secure gardens a year out so we have a good healthy garden trail when the festival happens,” says festival director Marc Anderson.

'These gardeners do it all in their own time so we can't expect them to put together a showpiece in just a few weeks. Landscaping and growing takes time.” So they're calling for expressions of interest now.

Marc Anderson says gardeners who are unsure if their plot is worthy of showcasing might like to let the festival's garden selection committee help them decide.

'It may be friends who tell you that you have a great garden, but you are shy about putting your hand up for festival inclusion. Or it may be you have a friend or neighbour whom you feel should be showcasing their creativity. Either way, we're keen to hear and are more than happy to visit to check gardens and talk things through,” Marc says.

New festival gardens are always an exciting inclusion in the biennial festival. And Marc says diversity is always appreciated – from sprawling rural gardens to tiny town plots. 'We see some wonderful gardens that aren't quite ready right now, but they will be in a year's time. It's not too early to start thinking about it.”

Seventy-one gardens and art stops featured in last year's festival, including five that were solely art studios. Some individual festival gardens have more than 2000 visitors. The 2018 festival figures show an attendance of over 29,000 enthusiasts.

The next four-day festival will be held from November 19 through November 22 next year, but Marc and team are keen to use this spring and summer period to confirm which gardens will be included. The festival traditionally features about 70 gardens as well as art stops.

To contact Marc, message: marc@gardenandartfestival.co.nz or phone: (07) 570 2525

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