Visit Floriade - Canberra, Australia

Floriade is Australia's largest flower festival. It is held for four weeks during September and October every year at the Canberra's Commonwealth Park, on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.

The first Floriade was held in 1988 as part of Australia's Bicentenary and Canberra's 75th birthday. There was a stunning floral display of bulbs and annuals, that is very ideal for Canberra's climate. It was so successful that the festival became an annual event, a celebration of Australian spring.

Each spring around 500,000 people from around Australia come to enjoy the Floriade. Six months before the festival a mass planting of flowers begins. Organizers plan for the plants all to bloom at the right time.

Each year the theme of the Floriade change, every year the flowers garden beds are planted to bloom in the design that reflects the current theme.

Aside from the million blooms, there are exciting exhibitions, garden showcase display, Stall holders display art, crafts, and gourmet produce and visitors can talk to gardeners and craftspeople about their work. There is something for everyone, there are workshops, live concerts, entertainment for kids and delicious food and drink stalls.

All photos shown here were all taken during at the 2008 Floriade Festival.