S’pore Garden Festival returns in August; global congress to be held in S-E Asia for first time
SINGAPORE: The ninth edition of the Singapore Garden Festival (SGF) is set to return in August. Organised by National Parks Board (NParks), it will be held at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre from Aug 3 to Aug 11 and features award-winning designers from around the world.

The biennial festival coincides with the Global Botanic Gardens Congress, organised by the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Botanic Gardens Conservation International, which will run from Aug 6 to Aug 9 at the Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The congress is being held for the first time in South-East Asia.

Held every three or four years, it includes internationally renowned speakers and sessions about key activities of botanic gardens, including species conservation, research, education and outreach.

The garden festival will present landscape and floral creations from award-winning international and local designers, community gardeners and plant enthusiasts.

To kick things off, a prelude event will be held from March 14 to March 17 at Takashimaya Square to give the public a glimpse of the festival’s floral displays and programmes. Admission is free.

Visitors can view 24 displays, incorporating fresh vegetables such as cauliflower, chilli and pandan, by florists from the Ikebana International Singapore Chapter 135.

Ikebana is the Japanese craft of flower arrangement.

An orchid display featuring various celebrity and heritage orchids will also be on show.

They include Dendrobium hybrids named after South Korean actor Bae Yong-jun, former tennis star Serena Williams, and singer Stephanie Sun, as well as heritage orchid Aranda Grandeur, which has impressive large blooms with pink-coloured shading.

On March 15 of the prelude, participants of the Floral Fiesta live competition will create masterpieces from an assortment of flowers.

Visitors can also attend floral demonstrations and talks to learn more about flowers and how to grow them.

Discounted tickets to the festival will be sold at the event.

Dennis Lim, NParks coordinating director of festivals, events and exhibitions, said: “We look forward to welcoming local and international visitors at the first full-scale SGF post-pandemic and introducing an exciting new competition format through the Floral Windows to the World Championship.”

Different competitions will be held during the festival.

The Floral Windows to the World Championship, which features colourful and creative window installations, will feature a live competition element for the first time.

Eighteen international floral designers representing 18 countries will compete for the title of Grand Champion by executing six tasks in front of live audiences over three days. These tasks will culminate in a showdown among five finalists.

The Best of Show Designer Gardens competition will feature 12 gardens, where designers will be paired with partners in Singapore to execute their display.

Local landscape designers Eliam Eng and his nephew Andy Eng, who won the Gold Award, and Best of Show and Best Construction awards in 2022, will return to defend their titles.

For the first time, South Korea and Thailand will be represented in the Best of Show Designer Gardens competition.

Other competitions held during the festival include the Balcony Gardens competition and the Singapore Gardeners’ Cup, which is a friendly challenge for community gardening groups to create thematic garden displays. - The Straits Times/ANN
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SINGAPORE: The ninth edition of the Singapore Garden Festival (SGF) is set to return in August. Organised by National Parks Board (NParks), it will be held at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre from Aug 3 to Aug 11 and features award-winning designers from around the world.