THE NEW look RHS Malvern Spring Festival is just a day away and is set to provide a glorious showcase of the very best in gardening and food.
Formerly The Malvern Spring Gardening Show, this year’s event is set to be bigger and better than ever when it gets under way at the Three Counties Showground between Thursday and Sunday (May 8 to 11).
As always there will be plenty for green fingered enthusiasts in the new floral marquee and also making their debut this year are the festival gardens created by the Cotswold Gardening School.
There will also be a chance to meet celebrity gardeners including BBC Gardeners World presenters Carol Klein, Chris Beardshaw and James Alexander Sinclair alongside Blue Peter’s Chris Collins and The One Show’s Christine Walkden.
Some will be on hand as part of the new Get Going Get Growing workshops teaching visitors how to sow, grow and harvest flowers, fruit and vegetables.
This year will also see the new food and drink pavilion as the show celebrates the link between food and gardening, with celebrity chefs James Martin and Rachel Allen cooking up a feast with ingredients produced from Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.
Meanwhile traders will be getting in on the act for the sixth Great Malvern Floral Festival which will see a dozen businesses produce creative displays on the theme of ‘Once Upon a Time’.
Judges from the Royal Horticultural Society will run the rule over the entries on Thursday before a prize giving on Belle Vue Island at midday on Saturday presented by Chris Collins. There will be live music from Jazz Alchemy before and after at 11.30am and 2pm.
Tickets are still available for the RHS Malvern Spring Festival from £14 when booked in advance or £18 on the day.
Visit www.threecounties.co.uk/rhsmalvern for more information on the event.
