The Singapore Garden Festival is back and for the first time held at Gardens by The Bay till 24 Aug 2014

Singapore Garden Festival 2014

Held biennially in Singapore, visitors from home and abroad converge like honey bees to the beautiful floral offerings at the Singapore Garden Festival (SGF). And this year, the festival is back with a dazzling kaleidoscope of colours. It’s most fitting that for the 1st time, the festival is held at the iconic Gardens by the Bay.

Organised by the National Parks Board (Nparks) Gardens by the Bay, the 9-day event (held from 16-24 Aug 2014) is spread over the size of 4 football fields and features a wide variety of exhibits and offerings. Visitors will get to experience visual feasts of exquisite garden and floral displays, lovingly created by more than 30 internationally acclaimed garden and floral designers.

You can find out more information of the festival at the official website here.  

For photo-enthusiasts, you will be well advised to bring along the widest lens in your inventory. I shot this with a 10-18mm lens (or 16mm-28mm 35mm equivalent).

Singapore Garden Festival Highlights

Landscape and Fantasy Gardens – Be enthralled by the “best of show” landscape designs by local and acclaimed international gardening celebrities.

Floral Windows to the World – Admire an alluring display of beautiful flowers, creatively and deftly designed by celebrated local and renowned international floral designers.

Balcony Gardens – Colourful displays to motivate and inspire viewers to transform your own balconies into lovely soothing retreats. 

Miniature Gardens – Ideas that give added dimension to limited space or time to make your garden fantasies come alive.

Orchids Extravanganza – This transports you into floral ecstasy with 18,000 orchids all under one roof. The Orchid Kaleidoscope features a variety of orchids within a 10m structure, the highest built within the Flower Dome.

Garden Fiesta – The place for edutainment with interesting performances, culinary art, floral arrangement demonstration, etc. Check out the programme timings here.

Vibrant MarketPlace @ Supertree Grove – Bring home some items for your gardening needs at this one-stop market place with over 80 retailers offering their wares.

For orchids lovers, you are in the right place. Loads of beautiful full blooms await you at the festival. For those looking to catch the orchids in the most ideal lighting, I would recommend to visit the festival venue early at 9am. By noon, the outdoor lighting becomes flat and does not flatter the flowers.

  Dressed up floral poles abound the festival grounds, livening up the senses.The lovely orchids will soothe your soul and relax your eyes. Talk about sensory therapy.Some Tiger Orchids to warm up the start of your visit. Loads of flowers of all types will assuage your senses and keep you entertained the minute you enter festival ground. For a more fruitful visit, be more informed by reading up on the official show programme booklet given at the ticket entrance. 

The entry tickets to the garden festival, located at The Meadows, also entitles you to the Flower Dome for the Orchids Extravaganza. You will be mesmerized by the gorgeous orchids in full bloom.One of the festival main highlights has to be the 10m Orchids Tower, by renowned Japanese landscape architect Juni – Ichi Inada. They say the beauty lies within. When you look within the Orchids Tower below, you will believe it.Check out the rest of the award winning fauna on display. Some unique and interesting species will challenge your notion on what orchids are supposed to look like. Do be advised that while the Garden Festival ends on the 24th Aug, the Orchid Extravaganza’s last day is on the 21st. Talk about unique breeds and hybrids – it takes really green fingers to cultivate orchids. I love orchids, but I can never really quite get orchids to achieve their fullest potential.There are plenty of sunny flowers around.You might like to try your hand at the Chinese drum around the exhibits ground. It looks easy but getting the beat right takes practise. My wife is a Japanese Daiko drum practitioner. She could not resist checking out the instrument.Those with the privilege of having landscaping opportunities at your home might want to take cue from “Layered Spaces” by designer Joe Palimeno (USA), the Gold Award Winner from the previous S’pore Garden Festival 2012.Another landscape concept “Vertical” by Brendan Moar (Australia), Gold Medal and Best of Show & People’s Choice – Australia Garden Show 2013.Step into the aircon tentage to beat the heat and humidity and view the Fantasy Garden exhibits. Be enthralled by the various displays of garden concepts by international and local garden designers.Lots of effort and creativity goes into the various exhibits in the Floral Windows to the World. To better understand the exhibits, do read up on the festival booklet provided for a more informed appreciation of the floral art installation.This looks like fiery red corals to me, but behind each artist contribution is meaning and inspiration which is best understood by reading up on the artist’s concept. Without that, you might wonder what it’s really all about. Bring a piece of the festival home with you. Homeowners with gardening needs will be well served by the 80 odd vendors offering various aspect of gardening. Located at the Supertree Grove.

Garden Festival Information

• Location of Garden Festival: The Meadows (Gardens by the Bay)
• Date of festival: 16 – 41 Aug 2014 (Orchids Extravaganza ends 21st Aug)
• Time: 10am to 10pm

Admission rates: 

Festival Map and Tips

Time needed: Be prepared to spend about 4-5 hours (minimum). I was there with my family since 8am and left about 1:30pm. We only managed to cover about 1/2 of the festival ground. Do set aside time for lunch too. To avoid the crowd, visit weekdays or the evenings. 

Parking: Park at the Meadow car park for the best accessibility. Do take note it’s unsheltered at Meadows carpark.

By MRT : Alight at Marina Bay station, exit the station at Exit A. Take bus no.400 and alight at the 4th bus stop. For those alighting at Bayfront Station, follow the underground link and exit station at Exit B, at look for the Dragonfly Bridge. 

The ever hardworking honey -the official “mascot” of the garden festival. Here are some of the highlights.

Photography Contest

Do bring along your camera to try out your pictures taking skills. Submit your pics with the theme “Colours” via the SGF Facebook page by the 7th September and stand the chance to win great prices by Canon.

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This post was brought to you by the Singapore Garden Festival.