TARANAKI’S GARDEN FESTIVAL SEASON HAS RETURNED WITH A BANG IN 2022

THE region hosts two separate, but synergistic garden festivals at the same time every spring, which one organiser calls a “bonanza” of more than 80 gardens open to visitors.

The Centuria Taranaki Garden Festival is hosted by the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (TAFT), which also organises events such as WOMAD, Spiegel Fest and the Right Royal Cabaret Fest. It started in 1987 as the Rhododendron Festival, and had 43 gardens open this year.

The Taranaki Fringe Garden Festival has been run by the Taranaki Garden Trust since 2005.

Its focus is on “real gardens for real people,” with 41 gardens and places of interest that are “unashamedly honest,” the likes of which visitors could more easily replicate in their own gardens.

Gardens in the TAFT event can be more spectacular and grandiose, and include some with full time management, such as Túpare Gardens, Pukekura Park’s Fernery and Display Houses and Pukeiti.

The two festivals ran alongside each other from October 28 to November 6 this year. Early indications suggest there were more than 100,000 garden visits across both events.

TAFT Festival Manager Tetsu Garnett says she printed 60,000 tickets before the festival started, and had to go back to print another 10,000 more due to high demand.

“We had 22 tours from across New Zealand and even Australia,” she says. “2020 was the biggest year we’ve had in terms of the number of people who attended, and this year has been just below that.”

“Around 70% of attendees came from outside the Taranaki region. 41% came for the first time, but we had a lot of people come for the 14th time too - it’s a really loyal customer base because a lot of people make friends with garden owners along the way.”

Fringe Festival organiser Anne Clough is equally enthusiastic about how well attended her event was.

“I got around all of our gardens and places of interest, and the reaction is just so positive,” she says. “Numbers have been exploding. One garden alone had more than 1,900 people attend, and most had more than 1,000. We had a tour bus come from as far as a retirement village in Nelson, and some gardens recorded more than 50 motor homes.”

The TAFT Garden Festival also teamed up with the Taranaki Arts Trail in 2020 and the Sustainable Backyards Trail in 2017. Together with the Fringe Garden Festival, it creates a broad range of events, gardens and attractions to appeal to all interests.

“It just highlights the talent we have in Taranaki,” Garnett says. “Gardeners and artists; there’s a real symbiotic relationship between the two.”

Both festivals pride themselves on being accessible and friendly. Private garden owners are typically on hand to welcome guests and talk about their gardens.

“Our aim is to make our visitors feel they’re a friend of the gardener,” Clough says. “We have courtesy cups of tea and coffee, and we’ve deliberately kept entry fees low ($2 per garden) so people can go and see multiple gardens each day.

“A lot of our gardeners have potted plants and seedlings for sale, and I’m hearing a lot of car boots went home full of goodies to take home and plant. People get so much from being able to talk to the garden owners, and it goes both ways - our owners say they learn a lot from visitors too.”

Tetsu Garnett says having an audio-described garden tour for people with low vision this year was a real highlight.

“A lot of our gardens are wheelchair friendly, so the festival is accessible from that point of view. We thought it was important to have something that caters for everyone.

“We visited five gardens and had three audio describers, and it went so well the provider has committed to it being an ongoing relationship.”

For Anne Clough, she found herself drawn to the big, bold colours - although she adds she’s also learning to love subtropical blooms and succulents.

“I get to know the gardeners during the year, then when I visit at festival time I see their personality shine through in their gardens. A lot of them are really creative, so they have hand-made creatures and pottery, and a raft of other creative displays.

“That’s what makes me love their gardens, because I see their personality in there and it brings it alive.”

With so many gardens on offer and just 10 days to see them, fitting in every garden is an ambitious task. Gardens are spread from rural Urenui in the north to Patea in the south - a drive of just under two hours - and all around Mount Taranaki.

“If people are here for a few days, we recommend they pick a different location and see the gardens in that area,” Clough says. “They’re often cluttered close together, only a few minutes’ drive away. It tends to be easier than zig-