Rotorua festival of Gardens

• 14 November 2025 at 12:18 pm
  Event date:
• 16 November 2025 at 12:18 pm
  Event end:

Rotorua Festival of Gardens: A Tradition of Beauty and Community

The Rotorua Festival of Gardens has been a cherished biennial event since its inception in 1992, with the 2023 festival marking its 16th celebration. Each festival showcases a wide variety of private gardens throughout the Rotorua community.

The festival’s original vision was to promote the Rotorua district as an attractive place to live and visit while encouraging people to become more “garden-conscious.” These objectives still hold true today, but our current emphasis is on inspiring beginners to take up gardening as a healthy hobby. Gardening offers a multitude of benefits, from supplementing the family food bill and eating organically to the simple joy of watching plants grow. It’s a chance to create a personal sanctuary and connect with others who share the same passion.

Last year, over 40 diverse gardens were on display—from mature, established spaces to new ones just getting started, and from sprawling country properties to tidy urban plots. There was something to inspire every visitor, whether they were an experienced green thumb or a novice. Seasoned gardeners enjoyed the chance to swap tips and stories with garden owners, while beginners were reminded that everyone starts somewhere and that gardening is a journey of trial and error. As the old hands will tell you, you never stop learning.

Behind the scenes, the festival is a community effort. We’ve been working to reregister our society under the new Incorporated Societies Act 2022, ensuring our constitution is up to date with the new rules. We’re also incredibly grateful for our community’s support. An application for funding prepared by Marian was successfully granted by the Rotorua Trust, and this support will help us cover the costs of promotional signage.

Festival Updates

Tickets and Sales: Tickets are now available for purchase online! They will also be sold in person at Palmers Garden Centre, Sala Street, starting September 1st. We offer both 1-day and 3-day passes, as well as special rates for groups. For more details on ordering and collecting passes, please visit the Ticket Sales page.

A Thank You to Our 2025 Exhibiting Gardeners: We recently held our first get-together for this year’s exhibiting gardeners in Pam’s beautiful garden. It was the perfect venue for a sunny autumn afternoon, and everyone enjoyed light refreshments and an update on the festival’s progress from Carol Bannister, Sandy Cleland from Palmers, and the committee. We look forward to hosting another gathering later this year.

Stay Connected: To ensure you’re always in the loop, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow the Rotorua Festival of Gardens on Facebook and Instagram. The links can be found below.

Key Festival Sponsor: We would like to extend a special thanks to Palmers Rotorua for their continued support of the Rotorua Festival of Gardens in both 2023 and 2025.

Our Original Vision

• To promote the Rotorua district as an attractive place to live or visit.
• To organize and promote biennial Rotorua Festival of Gardens events that encourage people to become more garden-conscious.
• To hold associated garden events to stimulate a love of gardening.
• To raise funds to cover the cost of each festival. Any surplus funds are donated to a local charity or charities chosen by the festival gardeners at the Rotorua Festival of Gardens AGM.

Location