Garden Festival Highlights

The Garden Festival takes place in the walled garden at Hillsborough Castle and has some special attractions for all members of the family and for every generation.

Highlights this year include:

Beautiful Cameo and Show Gardens

The stunning Show Gardens are a great source of inspiration for making the most of your outdoor space. This year's gardens are full of great ideas for gardens of all sizes. There's even an apothecary garden, featuring medicinal plants and herbs.

The creative and horticultural talents of Northern Ireland's school students will be on display in the Allianz School Garden Challenge entries. Garden designers beware - these young gardening enthusiasts mean business!

Growers Pavillion

A myriad of beautiful plants and flowers produced by specialist growers and nurserymen will be on display at Garden Show Ireland 2011. The growers will also be on hand to share their knowledge and give expert advice on planting and growing.

Garden Gourmet   

Garden Show Ireland's celebrity chef, Derek Patterson will tempt visitors with delicious Garden Show Ireland recipes in the Garden Gourmet Pavilion. This year he will be joined by local media celebrities and will throw down the gauntlet to challenge their cooking prowess.

Barbecue enthusiasts will find plenty of inspiration at the Weber Barbecue Experience. Learn from the experts as they demonstrate new techniques, share their recipe secrets and provide plenty of alternatives to burgers and sausages!    

Garden Style

Sunday is style day at the 2012 Garden Festival! The main stage will be the setting for the House of Fraser Children's Fashion Show. Come to the show in your best Garden Style to be in with a chance of winning a great prize from House of Fraser!

 Garden Roadshow

Our team of well-known experts will be on hand every day to answer questions and help solve visitors' gardening problems. They will be joined on Friday and Saturday by BBC Gardeners' World's Pippa Greenwood. Throughout the Show the Gardening Gurus will also give a series of practical talks and demonstrations on a range of seasonal gardening subjects.

There will be a special focus this year on using your garden to become more self-sufficient. Garden Show Ireland experts will be on hand to advise on bee keeping, how to grow your own fruit and vegetables, looking after chickens in the garden and using plants as medicine.

Country Crafts and Speciality Foods

There will be an impressive range of Country crafts and artisan foods at the 2012 Garden Festival. From pottery and designer hand-knits to liqueurs and cupcakes, will be something for all tastes in this popular area of the show.

Floristry Display

Learn how to create stunning flower arrangements, and how to make your own jewellery out of flowers and plants from your garden! International Florist, Richard Haslam will be giving demonstrations and workshops and will advise not just on how to make an arrangement look wonderful, but also which plants and flowers to grow to create it!  

Allianz Scarecrow Street

Visitors to the Show will be welcomed by the residents of Scarecrow Street, made by children from Integrated Primary School! They have travelled from all over Northern Ireland to entertain and delight this year's visitors.

Little Green Fingers

Little Green Fingers will be kept very busy at the 2012 Show! Children will be able to get their hands dirty planting flowers and seeds, take part in Little Green Fingers Workshops, watch bees make honey, and learn how to keep rabbits in the garden. There are plenty of activities throughout the Show to keep the kids entertained!   

Garden Equipment

2012 sees many new exhibitors at Garden Show Ireland. Machinery, tools, summer houses, pots, garden furniture, barbecues, paving and all the equipment for the garden will be on display!

Jazz, Wine and Cream Teas

Visitors to the Show can relax and enjoy the serene and peaceful atmosphere of the walled garden with a glass of wine to accompany the jazz band. Cream teas, organic roast hog and fresh organic salads are just some of the tempting delicacies on offer .  

Hillsborough Castle Gardens

The Show is held in the 'Secret Garden' the former walled garden of Hillsborough Castle. These magnificent gardens adjoining the walled garden will be open to Show Visitors free of charge throughout the 3 days of the Show.
 

Find all this and more at Garden Show Ireland 2012! 

 

Garden Show Ireland 2012 is kindly sponsored by: