Welcome “Bloom! York” back to the city this summer and join in with it’s first “Flower & Produce Festival” – a mini Bloom! festival, taking place over two days, in one central and very beautiful location:
Saturday 22 June | 12 – 4pm: Flower & Produce Show
Show classes for all ages | Workshops | Demonstrations | Stalls | Music – Register online to enter!
Sunday 23 June | 11am – 4pm: Plant & Flower Market | Workshops | Events | Stalls
York’s mini Bloom!
Celebrates York’s Producers and Growers
Bloom! York’s infant horticultural festival will return as a mini festival this summer and organisers are now calling on Yorkshire’s green fingered growers and producers to take part. Can you grow York’s longest broadbean? Create a vegetable self-portrait? Or bake the most delicious Fat Rascal?
The inaugural Bloom! Festival, the brainchild of Make It York, attracted thousands of visitors last summer and saw the city come alive with floral creations. This year, a ‘mini’ Bloom! Flower and Produce Festival, will celebrate York’s rich tradition of horticulture, past and present, and celebrate the individuals and communities involved today.
Organisers hope the celebration, 22-23 June in York Minster’s Dean’s Park, will encourage more people to get involved and ultimately encourage more planting across the city. A Flower and Produce Show will test six judges, who will reveal the winning entries in 60 different categories. Anyone can enter and categories, chosen with a Yorkshire twist, include everything from the best Yorkshire Parkin to best small potted Lupin.
With a full list of competition categories for children and adults to enter, this will be the focal event for a village fete right in the heart of York. Local flower farmers, florists, nurseries, specialist growers and anyone interested in taking better care of the natural environment are being invited to take part, including: Edible York, Askham Bryan College and York St Nicholas Fields. There will be a no plastic message throughout.
Ahead of next year’s larger event this year’s mini festival will focus on York’s growers and celebrate existing and budding (no pun intended) gardeners. To continue the legacy of the Bloom! 2018 festival a second, large-scale festival is already in the planning for 2020, celebrating York’s connections with horticulture.
Under the roof of York Minster School Marquee, the Flower & Produce Show will run from 12 noon-4pm on Saturday whilst Sunday will offer visitors the chance to buy from local producers at a Plant and Flower Market. Expect plants and posies from the likes of Askham Bryan College, Flower Power York, iBloom, Botanic and more.
Alongside the Flower & Produce Show, free events for children and families will include a Bee Story workshop, investigating the importance of bees, Vegetable Self-Portrait Making and Floral Crown Creating. These will be held underneath the trees of Dean’s Park Gardens where bunting and floral decorations will continue the ‘village fete’ theme throughout.
There are loads of options for entering this, whether young or old, green fingered, arty, a baking pro or just enthusiastic about having a go at something different!
It costs just 20p to enter and entries are accepted up until 10am on the day of the show. There are prizes to be won including three best in show goody bags which each include 3 family day passes to local National Trust properties, a £15 voucher for The Botanist, a Neals Yard Remedies Gift Box, a £5 voucher for Rainbow’s Ceramics and 2 free bags of compost, amongst other things!!
Fun & Silly Classes!! Open to all ages
Crafty Classes! Adults (Aged 16+)
Junior Classes – Ages 11-16
Kids Classes – Ages up to 10
(*Uncles, Grandparents, Family Friends included in this category!)
The Bee Story Workshop with Florence – will be investigating the importance of bees and other pollinators. Create your own bee, flower and honeycomb hexagon, and leave one behind to be part of our big-scale collage! Free event, Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 June, 11am – 1pm & 2- 4pm. All ages welcome.
