Kevin Gillespie, Leonard Wall,  Margaret Macleod and Esmae Stroud will present designs for the festival at Manfeild Stadium, Feilding, on May 1 – 2.

The North Island’s biggest dedicated weekend garden show features the Weekend Gardener garden seminars which include Kathy Bills (Landscape design for less garden maintenance), Alan Fielding (How to compost correctly); gardening guru Wally Richards; and Weekend Gardener herbs columnist Marilyn Wightman.

Celebrity chef Astar from TVNZ’s Good Morning show presents How to be fabulous on the small of an oily rag.

Entertainment at the festival includes Feilding High School Wearable Art static display;  photographic exhibition; interior design complemented with floral art, schools calico drawing competition, What’s at the bottom of the garden, and lawn mower racing.

The festival, which has a United Travel South Island tour prize draw, is open 9am-4pm each day. www.gardenfest.co.nz

PROGRAMME 2010

Saturday, 1 May

10am    
Celebrity chef – Astar – How to be fabulous on the smell of an oily rag.

11am    
Weekend Gardener seminar – Kathy Bills, BRP (Hon) MRP, demonstration on Landscape Design for less garden maintenance.

11am    
First lawnmower racing race.

11.30am  
Feilding Little Theatre Nunsense musical bracket from their upcoming production.

1pm      
Weekend Gardener seminar – Alan Fielding, international lecturer How to compost correctly.

2pm      
Celebrity chef – Astar – How to be fabulous on the smell of an oily rag.

3pm      
Weekend Gardener seminar – Wally Richards – Manawatu gardening guru / journalist.

Sunday, 2 May

10.00am  
Celebrity Chef – Astar – How to be fabulous on the smell of an oily rag.

11.00am  
Weekend Gardner seminar – Marilyn Whiteman, herbalist and Weekend Gardener columnist Growing Herbs – from a 25 years perspective.

11.00 am 
First lawnmower racing race.

11.30am  
Feilding Little Theatre Nunsense musical bracket from the upcoming production.

1pm      
Weekend Gardener seminar – Kathy Bills BRP (Hon) MRP, demonstration on Landscape design for less garden maintenance.

2pm      
Celebrity Chef – Astar – How to be fabulous on the smell of an oily rag.

3pm                
Weekend Gardener seminar – Alan Fielding international lecturer, How to compost correctly.

Gardening has always been a favourite New Zealand pastime but the present boom – born out of a desire for clean green food and the adverse financial times – is happening in schools, community allotments, small courtyard plots and big acre gardens alike.

It’s ‘cool’ today to grow your own veggies, fruit and herbs; they taste better and it certainly helps the budget. Gardening is also therapeutic and provides comradeship in the sharing of endeavours. This is all being  rediscovered by a ‘lost generation’ of new gardeners. Children and their parents are learning peas and corn don’t have to come in a frozen pack but can be grown in the smallest garden.

And despite the gloomy economic times, people have flocked to two gardening shows this year – first Ellerslie International Flower Show in the south and now Manawatu Garden Festival in Feilding.

This month, Feilding, the proud town consistently voted New Zealand’s most beautiful (largely thanks to a caring community with a passion for beautiful civic gardens) delivered its seventh annual festival in Manfield Park’s new indoor stadium, taking the North Island’s premiere 100% garden show to another level. The decision to go to the new stadium was expensive but bold and positive. The show was a huge success – and much celebrated by gardeners.

To attract record visitor numbers and stage a high quality show in such times is a credit to the festival organisers. To produce the event in a small rural town and attract gardeners from far afield at the onset of winter is no mean feat.

And its all for charity.