September to October · Australian Capital Territory · Canberra
Floriade
A month-long spring flower festival in Canberra, the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
Canberra's Commonwealth Park fills with more than one million flowering bulbs and annuals for four weeks in September and October.
Floriade is held in Canberra's Commonwealth Park on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin and has run annually since 1988 to mark the beginning of the southern spring. The festival site is planted with more than one million flowering bulbs and annuals each year in large-scale garden designs that change with each edition. It is the largest flower festival in the southern hemisphere.
The festival runs for four weeks from mid-September to mid-October. Entry is free during daylight hours. NightFest, a ticketed evening event in the final week, adds light installations, live music and guided tours through the illuminated gardens.
Canberra's usually quiet spring weather makes Floriade a pleasant outdoor festival, though the park can be crowded on weekends. The festival coincides with the ACT school holidays and is one of the most family-friendly events on the Australian calendar.
While you are there
