This year’s Floriade is to break new ground by extending its reach beyond the boundaries of Commonwealth Park and into five of the Territory’s town centres.
Minister for Arts and Cultural Events, Gordon Ramsay said Floriade in the Suburbs will be popping up in Gungahlin, Belconnen, Tuggeranong, Molonglo and Woden, creating a community focal point to bring Floriade’s vibrancy to the town centres on selected weekends.
Mr Ramsay said the expansion of the festival beyond Commonwealth Park would build on the liveliness and colour Floriade brought to Canberra during spring.
“Local residents are encouraged to bring along their picnic blanket and enjoy an afternoon of food and drinks with live music and family entertainment as they experience a little taste of Floriade in their local area,” Mr Ramsay said.
“We are extremely lucky in Canberra to have a jam-packed yearly event schedule and we want to continue to ensure that our local events promote positive community and social outcomes for the whole of the ACT.”
He said that to celebrate the arrival of Floriade in the Suburbs, organisers were seeking community support in naming Floriade’s first ever larger-than-life-sized gnome.
Commissioned from the local company Graffik Paint, local artists Geoff, Peter and Jenny Filmer had spent 500 hours over seven weeks designing and creating the gnome — the only thing left was its name.
“The handcrafted gnome will attend each of the Floriade in the Suburbs pop-up events as well as dropping in on Floriade on its days off from touring town centres,” Mr Ramsay said.
Floriade returns to Commonwealth Park on 14 September and blooms until 13 October.
