The recent Grahamstown Flower Festival presented a variety of horticultural events over two days, attracting a stream of locals and visitors to the sprawling Makana Botanical Gardens.
The recent Grahamstown Flower Festival presented a variety of horticultural events over two days, attracting a stream of locals and visitors to the sprawling Makana Botanical Gardens.
A pipe band belted out Scottish tunes while festival-goers browsed through stalls, children crowded around the flaky ice-cream stand while others tested the flexibility of the jumping castles, and serious flower fanatics either headed for the hall to admire the dozens of blooms entered in the flower competition or the Eden Grove complex to listen to one of the speakers.
By the end of the event, festival convenor Sharon Richner told Grocott's Mail that she was particularly pleased that this year’s garden competition entry was bigger than last year. “We had a record number of entries this year, and the standard was very high,” she said.
This year a children’s workshop and flower competition were added to the festival that were well supported. The number of stalls also increased from 26 in 2010 to 37 this year. “We have again had overwhelmingly positive feedback from the public as well as from most of the participants," Richner said.
"The flower competition brought such vibrant colour to the event, and it was wonderful to see the creativity of our community’s children.” The four workshops hosted at the festival – ranging from one on medicinal plants to keeping food and gardens bug-free – were well-presented and enjoyed by participants.
Richner said the music provided by the pipe band, marimba band, jazz band, plus the food courts and jumping castles all added to the festival atmosphere.
She thanked the Grahamstown community for their loyal support of the event – visitors, sponsors, school bands, flower competition entrants, artists who contributed works for the art exhibition, members of the organising committee and the many volunteers and sponsors.
