A garden festival is a festival and exposition held to celebrate the arts of gardening, garden design, landscaping and landscape architecture. There are local garden festivals, regional garden festivals, national garden festivals and international garden festivals. The idea probably originated with Germany's Bundesgartenschau. The UK held five garden festivals in the period 1984–1992.
To qualify as an international exhibition, an expo must be recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which was established by a diplomatic international convention, signed in Paris, in 1928. Horticultural expos can also be recognised by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (IAHP / AIPH). To qualify as a national exhibition, a garden festival must be recognised by a national government.
Because garden design is becoming more popular and featuring on TV, there is an ever-growing number of garden festivals: permanent and temporary, official and non-official. One of the best known is International Garden Festival held on a permanent site at Chaumont in France. Despite the name, Chaumont does not come within the BIE definition of an 'international' festival. Other shows feature garden design but describe themselves as 'flower shows'. The best-known example in this category, the Chelsea Flower Show, emphasises garden design. It spun off a Chelsea Fringe events in 2012 which featured a variety of unusual gardens and gardening across London.
| Country | City | Name | Year | Theme | BIE recognised[1] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Ruhr 2027 | 2027 | Stadt der Städte | Yes | |||
 Qatar | Doha | Qatar Expo 2021[2] | 2023 | Green Desert, Better Environment | Yes | |
 Netherlands | Amsterdam-Almere | 2022 | Growing Green Cities | Yes | ||
| 2019 | Live Green, Live Better | Yes | ||||
| 2016 | Flowers and Children | Yes | ||||
| 2012 | Be part of the theatre in nature; get closer to the quality of life | Yes | ||||
| 2006 | To Express the Love for Humanity | Yes | ||||
| 2003 | A Seaside Park. A new flowered world | Yes | ||||
| 2002 | The contribution of the Netherlands horticulture and international horticulture in the quality of life in the 21st century | Yes | ||||
| 1999 | Man and Nature - Marching into the 21st century | Yes | ||||
| 1993 | City and Nature - Responsible Approach | Yes | ||||
| 1992 | Horticulture is being involved in a continuous process of renewal in the field of quality, technique, science and management | Yes | ||||
| 1990 | The Harmonious Coexistence of Nature and Mankind | Yes | ||||
| 1984 | The progress accomplished by International and National Horticulture | Yes | ||||
| 1983 | International Horticulture | Yes | ||||
| 1982 | International Horticulture | Yes | ||||
| 1980 | Relationship between man’s socio-cultural activities and his physical environment | Yes | ||||
| 1974 | International Horticulture | Yes | ||||
| 1973 | International Horticulture | Yes | ||||
| 1972 | Efforts accomplished by International Horticulture | Yes | ||||
| 1969 | Flowers of France and Flowers of the World | Yes | ||||
| WIG 64 – Wiener Internationale Gartenschau | 1964 | International Horticulture | Yes | |||
| IGA 63 – Internationale Gartenbauausstellung Hamburg 1963 | 1963 | Horticulture of all Categories from the Point of View of Economics and Culture | Yes | |||
| 1960 | International Horticulture | Yes |
| Country | City | Festival name | Year(s) | Dates | Type | AIPH classification[3] | BIE recognised | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 1 May – 26 October | National | No | |||||
| 1988 | 28 April – 26 September | National | No | |||||
| 1990 | 1 May – 4 October | National | No | |||||
| 1992 | 1 May – 4 October | National | No | |||||
| 1992 | 3 April – 12 October | International | No | |||||
| 2005, 2010, 2015 | National | B2 | No | |||||
| ExpoFlora[4] | 2005 | National | B2 | No | ||||
| 2006 | 1 May – 31 October | International | A2/B1 | No | ||||
| 2006 and biennially since | 16–25 December | International | n/a | No | ||||
| Pyin Oo Lwin | 2005–2017 | December | National | N/A | No | |||
| 2010 | 11–21 March | National | No | |||||
| 2010–2011 | 6 November – 25 April | International | A2/B1 | No | ||||
| 1995— | 30 March – 3 April | International | n/a | No | ||||
| 2011 | 22 April – 28 October | International | A2/B1 | No | ||||
| 2013 | 20 April – 20 October | International | A2/B1 | No | ||||
| 2013 | 10 May – 31 October | International | A2/B1 | No | ||||
| 2014 | 25 April – 25 October | International | A2/B1 | No | ||||
| 2015 | March | National | No | |||||
| 2016 | May – Oct | International | A2/B1 | No[5] | ||||
| Taichung | 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition | 2018 | 3 Nov. 2018 – 24 Apr. 2019 | International | A2/B1 | No | ||
| Canberra | Floriade, Canberra | 1988— | 16 September — 15 October 2023 | National | No | |||
 China | Yangzhou | Yangzhou International Horticultural Exposition 2021 | 2021 | 8 April – 8 October | International | A2/B1 | No |