This week is the final week of Floriade 2009, so I thought I would celebrate it by posting a few pictures from the festival over the coming days. The last time I visited was for a school excursion goodness knows how many years ago, so it was interesting to come back and see it from a fresh perspective. I was going to write a spiel about Floriade, but their website does a much better job, so I pinched something from there:
Floriade began in 1988 as a spectacular commemoration of Australia's Bicentenary and Canberra's 75th birthday. Floriade blossomed for the first time with a stunning floral display of exotic bulbs and annuals, which grow beautifully in Canberra's climate. The community embraced the inaugural Floriade, making it such a success that it became an annual event - Australia's celebration of spring. Since its beginnings in 1988 Floriade has been held in the city, in Canberra's Commonwealth Park.
Floriade is Australia's premier spring festival and a world-class floral spectacular. More than one million blooms create a stunning backdrop to a month-long festival filled with music, cultural celebrations, horticultural workshops, artistic displays, entertainment and recreational activities. Floriade runs from mid-September to mid-October and attracts more than 400,000 attendees.
Check out the Floraide website here.
