Town set to bloom for inaugural garden fest

FLOWERS, art, music and dance will fill the town this weekend for the first ever Macclesfield Garden Festival.

The event has been organised by awardwinning gardener Jon Tilley who came up with the idea of running a festival to fill the gap left by the biennial Barnaby Festival.

Garden and art lovers will be able to explore a range of gardens and sculptures on display throughout the weekend, accompanied by a variety of musical and dance performances.

Jon said there is something for everyone, with family friendly events, and beautiful displays which will delight garden lovers.

He said: “The community has worked really hard to pull this together so it will be great if the community could come out and support this one. There will be so much going on. As well as these fantastic gardens we’ve got performances from the local dance academy,

Organiser Jon Tillley said there will be something for everyone singers, choirs, brass bands.

“Our mission statement was to celebrate gardens, design, arts and nature - it covers everything.”

Jon has also rallied the support of school children, with 14 primary schools and five high schools getting involved.

He added: “We’ve got dinosaurs created by early years students to professional sculptures and everything in between. This isn’t just a garden festival, there’s something for everyone.”

The garden festival takes place from Friday, May 19, until Sunday, May 21.

The majority of performances will take place over the weekend, with garden lovers encouraged to enjoy the displays on the Friday.

The displays will be in Christ Church Gardens, Great King Street, and at the Market Place.

Jon added: “Friday will be a little quieter and the gardens will be fresh so I’d suggest all the keen gardeners head along on Friday, with all the family friendly events taking place over the weekend.”

Garden exhibits - including work by RHS gold medal garden designers - will include a Jurassic Garden, which will include ancient plants, and a recycled garden. The Grosvenor Centre has also teamedup with schools in the area to provide special gardening packs, with equipment to grow plants, flowers and vegetables.

Tickets cost £2.50 on Friday, or £4 on the weekend. For more information go to macclesfield gardenfestival.co.uk