Having achieved recognition at home and overseas for six editions, an expanded show format will be introduced for premier international garden and flower show Singapore Garden Festival (SGF).
SGF will grow into three complementary flower and horticultural shows instead of only one main show. Offshoots of the anchor Festival, SGF Orchid Show and SGF Horticulture Show will comprise various popular SGF elements, allowing them to entertain visitors at individual platforms.
With this expansion, Singaporeans will have more opportunities to appreciate tropical horticulture and floral artistry every year. The stable of three signature SGF shows was announced today at an event to launch the Festival, which returns in July this year.
The world’s largest flower basket is made from over 27,000 flowers. The 50 varieties of plants in the basket include perennial favourites like orchids that are popular as cut flowers (e.g. Dendrobium Lucian Pink, Dendrobium Sonia and Oncidium goldiana var. golden shower), heritage orchids (e.g. Aranthera Beatrice Ng and Aranda Noorah Alsagoff), Heliconias and Alpinias. More than 150 community gardeners, volunteers, and students, facilitated by National Parks Board (NParks) staff, gathered to set this new Guinness World Record over 12 days.
Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for National Development, Mr Desmond Lee, put the final touches to the display. The floral exhibit will be showcased at Takashimaya Square (Basement 2) until 11 March, and an ongoing series of free talks and demonstrations on orchids and floral design is being held from 9 to 11 March. Also on display through the weekend is an assortment of celebrity orchids includingDendrobium hybrids named after Amitabh Bachchan, Joseph Schooling, Stefanie Sun and Zhou Xun.
This event was supported by Takashimaya Singapore Ltd as the venue sponsor, in conjunction with its 25th anniversary celebrations.
Here are the highlights that participants can look forward to
Key highlights of the Festival include:
- 13 Fantasy and Landscape Show Gardens featuring approximately 80 sqm creations by top award-winning gardening luminaries from around the world. This year’s festival will feature landscape and garden designers from Australia, France, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States of America.
- 13 Floral Windows to the World featuring colourful and vibrant cut-flower displays and floral masterpieces with stunning set design and lighting by notable floral designers from around the world. This year’s festival will welcome master floral artists from Austria, Azerbaijan, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Romania, Singapore, South Korea and Spain.
- [NEW] 1 non-competitive Floral Windows to the World Installation featuring a kaleidoscopic display of blooms created by Natasha Lisitsa and Daniel Schultz, Best of Show (Floral Windows to the World) designers for SGF 2016.
- 8 Balcony Gardens featuring colourful and inspirational displays for home and apartment owners. Visitors can see how these designers transform 3m by 3m spaces into a soothing retreat.
- Orchid Extravaganza in Flower Dome showcasing the world’s largest family of flowering plants. Orchids are a significant part of Singapore’s heritage and this year’s orchid display will see award-winning Singaporean filmmaker Royston Tan providing the creative concept and direction.
- [NEW] ASEAN Garden, a special feature to mark Singapore’s chairmanship of ASEAN in 2018. ASEAN Garden will showcase a myriad of colourful blossoms symbolic of Southeast Asian nations, including lotuses, hibiscuses and orchids, just to name a few.
- [NEW] Secret Garden of Edibles where visitors can see fruits and vegetables from temperate climates. Expect to see colourful edibles, fragrant plants, and many more.
- Landscape Design Challenge where 10 teams of students will transform 3m by 3m empty spaces into a garden within the span of four hours.
- Gardeners’ Cup a friendly competition where 60 groups of community gardeners will be split into five teams to compete for the best show garden.
- A Vibrant Marketplace with over 100 booths offering food and beverages, plants, botanical resources, and arts and crafts for sale. Visitors can also look forward to performances by local musicians.
- Other favourites include the Learning Garden, displays by the Floral Designers Society (Singapore), students as young as six years old, Singapore Penjing & Stone Appreciation Society and Singapore Gardening Society, as well as various educational talks.
Ticketing Details
From 10 to 11 March, tickets for SGF will be available at the SGF roadshow at Takashimaya Square (Basement 2). And starting 16 March, tickets can be purchased from the Visitor Centre @ Nassim at Singapore Botanic Gardens, Gardens by the Bay Ticketing Hub, and this website.
For more information, please visit this website.
Here’s another event you can look forward to for the kids and it’s the Nickelodeon Fiesta!
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