Hampton Court Garden Festival facts for kids

The Hampton Court Garden Festival (formerly known as the Hampton Court Flower Show) is a big yearly event in Britain. It happens every July at Hampton Court Palace in London. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) organizes this amazing show.

At the festival, you can see many cool things like special show gardens, huge tents filled with flowers, and places where experts give talks and demonstrations. The show is set up on both sides of the Long Water, a long lake in Hampton Court Park. It's the second largest flower show in the UK, after the famous Chelsea Flower Show. However, the Hampton Court festival is a bit different. It focuses more on important topics like protecting the environment, growing your own food and vegetables, and even cooking! You can also buy lots of gardening tools, plants, and flowers there.

The festival in 2020 had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made it unsafe for large groups of people to gather. The most recent festival took place from July 4 to 9, 2023.

How the Festival Started

The Idea Behind the Show

The idea for the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show came from a man named Adrian Boyd. He was a business expert who saw a chance to help two organizations at the same time. In the 1980s, a government department called the Department of the Environment was split up. One part, Historic Royal Palaces, needed new ways to make money and attract more visitors. Also, Network SouthEast, a train company, wanted to make its train services more popular.

Adrian Boyd thought that Network SouthEast could pay for a flower show at Hampton Court. They would also provide special trains to take people right to Hampton Court railway station. At the same time, the RHS was planning four new events for 1993 in different cities.

Early Shows (1990-1992)

The very first Hampton Court Palace Flower Show happened in July 1990. To get people excited, special trains ran from London Waterloo, and train porters even wore flowers in their hats! Even though not many businesses were selling things at the show, huge crowds came. Network SouthEast was very happy, saying that "70 percent of the estimated 300,000 visitors used rail." This meant their sponsorship was a big success.

The RHS thought about helping with the show, especially since their Chelsea show was always full. The organizers of the Hampton Court show welcomed the RHS to get involved from 1992. RHS members even got a discount on tickets for the 1991 show. Adrian Greenoak, who was in charge of the plants and gardens for the show, kept making things better. In 1991, they added a British Rose Festival, working with other rose societies.

In November 1992, Network SouthEast announced they would no longer support the show. This led to many discussions. Adrian Boyd, who didn't own the show, had to compete with others to keep it. Stephen Bennett from the RHS explained how much the RHS could help. He said, "We can reduce the costs hugely… Apart from saving publicity costs with our extensive media relations network, we have a colossal amount of equipment." He mentioned they had about £1 million worth of tents and staging equipment, which would be very expensive to rent. Historic Royal Palaces agreed to let the RHS take over, as long as they kept some staff, including Adrian Greenoak. This was a bit risky for the RHS, as they already had four new shows planned for 1993.

The RHS Takes Over (1993-Present)

Gardens and displays can be seen on both sides of the Long Water

The first Hampton Court Show organized by the RHS took place in 1993. The Daily Mail newspaper also helped sponsor it. The show was a big hit! The next year, in 1994, it was even called the best outdoor public event of the year.

The show grounds are very large, about 25 acres. This meant there was lots of space to grow and add new things. Over the next few years, a special Heritage Marquee was set up for national plant collections. At first, this area was quiet, but it became more popular over time. Craft tents, which used to be the first thing visitors saw, were moved to a less noticeable spot. There was also room for many display gardens, plus a separate area across the Long Water for ten water gardens.

In 1998, a garden from Hampton Court was rebuilt at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, a hospital for people with brain injuries. While the Chelsea show remained the most famous, Hampton Court became the biggest. Within a few years, the RHS had earned back all the money they invested in the Hampton Court show.

In 2019, the show changed its name to the Hampton Court Garden Festival. The festival manager said this new name "better reflected the atmosphere and the experience of our visitors at the event."

As mentioned before, the 2020 festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most other RHS flower shows that year were also cancelled.

When the Festival Happens

A garden stand being built for the show in 2008

The 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 beautiful display in the Floral Marquee

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  The "A Dog's Life" garden, which won a gold medal

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  A life jacket floating in the water at the UNHCR Border Control garden. This was the best conceptual garden in 2016.

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  The World Vision Garden featured curved lawns that looked like they were floating in the air.

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  Amazing Begonias and Delphiniums from Blackmore & Langdon.

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