11 MARCH 2012
Ellerslie Flower Show ends on high

More than 45,000 visitors enjoyed this year’s Ellerslie International Flower Show, says Show Managing Director Dave Mee.

“While numbers were down by about 10,000 from the last Show in 2010, it had been a bit of a challenging week with wet weather having an impact on numbers for the opening day on Wednesday and cooler, windy weather affecting numbers on Friday and Saturday.

“A shortage of accommodation in the city has also impacted on numbers,” he said.

“However, the Show ended on a high today, with the warmer temperatures enabling the thousands of visitors to finally shed their coats later in the day.”

He said despite the weather and accommodation issues, it had been great to be able to put on such a fantastic show. “The thousands who came to the Show throughout the five days spent several hours on site enjoying the exhibits and left with smiles on their faces – and that is the best measure of success.

“It was great to get so many wonderful comments from visitors, overseas horticultural media and our judges, who commented that the Show was the best in 10 years. They praised the quality of the exhibits, from the design to the plant material; that is fantastic for the gardening industry.

“This is also important for Ellerslie as it works to build its international reputation as one of the top five garden shows in the world.”

Mr Mee said everyone loved the hope and optimism the gardens offered Christchurch as the city begins to rebuild following the earthquakes, as well as all the flowers and the colour.

“It was so good to have the Show back this year and we look forward to bringing a bigger and even better Ellerslie International Flower Show to Christchurch and New Zealand in 2013.”

He said he could not comment on the profitability of the show at this stage as it would take some weeks yet to get final accounts from the Show’s many suppliers.

ends

© Scoop Media