Worcestershire
WR13 6NW UK
Tel: 01684 584900
For more information please contact:
Sharon Gilbert
Press & PR Manager
Telephone:
01684 584929
Fax:
01684 584930
E-mail: sharon@threecounties.co.uk
Editor's Notes:
The Malvern Spring Gardening Show is a fund raising event and a joint venture of the Three Counties Agricultural Society (Registered charity no: 511868) and the Royal Horticultural Society (No: 222879), and celebrates its 24th year in 2009.
Gardening Show Visitors Defy Recession
We may be in the middle of a recession, but gardeners, it seems, are refusing to let the credit crunch spoil their enjoyment of one of Britain’s top five horticultural shows.
Advance ticket sales for the 24th Malvern Spring Gardening Show (7 – 10 May) are up on last year, and there’s been an increase in coach parties visiting on First Day.
Trade stand bookings are also ahead of 2008, in spite of an uneasy trading climate, and there has been a handful of ticket enquiries for 2010!
Said Sharon Gilbert, Press & PR Manager for the Malvern Showground: “With the UK’s economy officially in recession for the first time in 17 years, we know that 2009 is going to be difficult, and we have been pro-active in trying to stave off a downturn.
There is all kinds of speculation about people improving their homes instead of moving, holidaying in Britain rather than abroad, and going out for days rather than weeks at a time. The truth is we cannot attribute healthy ticket sales to any one factor – we can only celebrate a very positive start to the show season.”
Malvern was recently voted one of AOL Travel’s worldwide holiday hotspots, alongside more exotic locations like the Peruvian volcanic city Arequipa and a ‘Wild West’ town in Utah, so the event benefits from a wonderful location.
Serious and occasional gardeners alike can enjoy an unprecedented collection of some 40 gardens and borders – ranging from a contemporary Victorian space and a secret wildlife haven, to a 70’s ‘Saturday Night Fever’ style garden and a Merlin’s Cave.
Twelve new designers nationwide, will be going head to head to win the second Chris Beardshaw Mentoring Scholarship sponsored by Bradstone, on First Day, and more than 100 nurseries will be joining in with the RHS ‘Celebration of Horticulture’ theme in the Malvern Floral Marquee – the largest of its kind in the country!
Friday, 8 May is designated Spring Fashion Day, and a contemporary garden catwalk in the Design For Living Theatre, hosted by celebrity gardeners Joe Swift and James Alexander-Sinclair, is the stage for a colourful parade of wonderful outfits from young designers all hoping for the seal of approval from a guest celebrity judge.
There’s a new Eco Home & Garden Area, complete with a ‘Chickens In The Garden’ display, and UK Skills, in association with BALI (British Association of Landscape Industries) has chosen the Spring Gardening Show as the venue for a regional heat of its World Skills UK Landscape Gardening Competition 2009.
Food lovers can look forward to some creative cooking with local celebrity chef, Felice Tocchini of Worcestershire’s celebrated Fusion Brasserie at Stoulton, and Felice’s Kitchen will be serving up some tasty dishes for all abilities and pockets, and based around a ‘Flavours of the World’ theme.
For more information and interview opportunities, please contact:
Sharon Gilbert – Press & PR Manager
Three Counties Agricultural Society
Telephone: 01684 584929 (direct dial)
E-mail: sharon@threecounties.co.uk
Show Web Site and Box Office: www.threecounties.co.uk/springgardening
Ticket Hotline: +44 (0) 1684 584 900/924
Released: 19/02/2009