Hampton Court Garden Festival facts for kids
The Hampton Court Garden Festival is a big yearly event in Britain. It used to be called the Hampton Court Flower Show. This festival happens every July at Hampton Court Palace in London. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) organizes it.
At the festival, you can see amazing show gardens and huge tents filled with beautiful flowers. There are also talks and demonstrations about gardening. The festival is set up around the Long Water in Hampton Court Park. It's the second largest flower show in the UK, after the Chelsea Flower Show. However, it's different because it focuses more on protecting the environment, growing your own food, and cooking. You can also buy lots of gardening tools, plants, and flowers there.
The festival in 2020 was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This global health event made it unsafe for large groups of people to gather.
Contents
History of the Festival
How the Festival Began
The idea for the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show came from a business expert named Adrian Boyd. He saw a chance to help two groups at once. One group was Historic Royal Palaces, which needed more money and visitors. The other was Network SouthEast, a train company looking to make its services more popular.
Boyd suggested that Network SouthEast could pay for a flower show at Hampton Court. They would also provide train travel to Hampton Court railway station. This way, more people would come to the show and use the trains.
Early Years: 1990 to 1992
The very first Hampton Court Palace Flower Show took place in July 1990. Special trains ran from London Waterloo to bring visitors. Train workers even wore flowers in their hats to create excitement. Even though not many businesses supported the show at first, huge crowds came. Network SouthEast was very happy, saying that most visitors used their trains.
The RHS thought about helping with the show, especially since their Chelsea show was so popular. By 1992, the organizers welcomed the RHS to get involved. RHS members even got a discount on tickets in 1991. Adrian Greenoak, the show's garden director, worked hard to make the show better each year. In 1991, a British Rose Festival was added, featuring many beautiful roses.
In November 1992, Network SouthEast decided to stop supporting the show. This led to many talks. Adrian Boyd, who started the show, had to compete to keep it going. The RHS explained how much they could help. They had lots of equipment, like tents and staging, which would save a lot of money. Historic Royal Palaces agreed to let the RHS take over. They asked the RHS to keep some staff, including Adrian Greenoak. This was a big risk for the RHS, as they already had four new shows planned for 1993.
The RHS Takes Over: 1993 to Today
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The first RHS Hampton Court Show happened in 1993. The Daily Mail newspaper also helped sponsor it. The show was a big success. The next year, it was even called the best outdoor public event of 1994.
The show grounds are very large, covering about 25 acres. This meant there was plenty of space to grow. Over the years, new areas were added. A Heritage Marquee was set up for special plant collections. Craft tents, which used to be at the entrance, were moved to a quieter spot. There was also room for many display gardens. A separate area across the Long Water was created for water gardens.
In 1998, a garden from Hampton Court was rebuilt at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability. While the Chelsea show remained very famous, Hampton Court became the largest RHS show. It was easy to market it as such. Within a few years, the money invested in Hampton Court had been earned back and more.
In 2019, the show changed its name to the Hampton Court Garden Festival. The festival manager said this new name better described the fun and experience visitors had there.
As mentioned, the 2020 festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most other RHS flower shows that year were also canceled.
Festival Dates
The Hampton Court Garden Festival always runs from a Tuesday to a Sunday. It usually ends on the second Sunday in July.
Gallery
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Jacques Amand's display in the Floral Marquee
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A Dog's Life – a gold-winning garden
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A life jacket floats in the water at the UNHCR Border Control garden, 2016's Best Conceptual Garden
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World Vision Garden had curved lawns floating in the air
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Begonias and Delphiniums from Blackmore & Langdon
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See also
- Royal Horticultural Society
- Chelsea Flower Show
- Tatton Park Flower Show
- HM Prison Leyhill, whose award-winning garden entries inspired the 2000 film Greenfingers
