The Rotorua Festival of Gardens has run biennially since 1992, with the 2023 festival marking the 16th event. Each festival has showcased a wide variety of private gardens in the Rotorua community.

A multi-faceted event, the Rotorua Festival of Gardens began as a way to promote the Rotorua district as an attractive place live and visit as well as encouraging people to become more garden-conscious. Those objectives remain, but currently the emphasis is more strongly weighed towards encouraging beginners to take up gardening as a healthy hobby that offers many benefits, including the chance to supplement the family food bill, perhaps eat organically, enjoy the simple pleasure of seeing plants, shrubs and trees grow, the satisfaction of creating a personal ‘paradise’ and even make new friends. 

Whether visitors were interested in gardens that are old-established or just getting started, country or city, rambling to formal, quirky or food-focused, last year’s crop of 40-plus gardens offered something to inspire, interest and delight every festivalgoer. Experienced gardeners enjoyed the chance to talk to the gardeners who had opened their property and perhaps gained tips, information, and/or inspiration to work on a new garden project.

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Every garden reflects what has been (or is being) achieved by the efforts of imaginative and enthusiastic owners over time. Beginners need to remember that everybody started somewhere. Regardless of plant knowledge or experience, it’s a trial-and-error process. Old hands will tell you they never stop learning.