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21
Apr
Interview: The man preparing to welcome 50,000 gardeners to Harrogate
This week is one of the biggest in the gardening calendar — and it's happening in Harrogate.
Harrogate Spring Flower Show marks the start of the horticultural year.
Up to 50,000 gardeners are expected to flock to the Great Yorkshire Showground from Thursday to Sunday for what is the show's 105th year.
The scale of the event is a reminder of how fundamental flowers are to Harrogate, not just for leisure but also tourism. They're as much a part of the town's DNA as the Stray and Bettys.
Show director Nick Smith says:
This event is very special. It was created by the North of England Horticultural Society for the north of England. We are the only national event that manages to still stage the best of northern horticulture.
Putting on a flower show in North Yorkshire in April, when often the borders are barren and the skies leaden, can't be easy.
But after 11 years as show director, Nick is confident the event has found a successful formula:
It’s a huge challenge for exhibitors and they rise to it amazingly.
They bring on things specifically for the event just to give people an idea of what the garden will look like in a month, two months or three months’ time. It’s lovely to be able to see these things before they happen in your garden.
It’s always a challenge – the daffs are always over or not quite there but that’s just gardening.
Bookending the gardening year
The North of England Horticultural Society's trading company, Harrogate Flower Shows, stages events in spring and autumn that bookend the gardening year.
The spring show, which is the larger of the two, was previously held at the Winter Gardens and then at the Valley Gardens, until it moved to the showground in 1999.
An exhibitor at a previous spring show.
The autumn show, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, has been held at Newby Hall, between Ripon and Boroughbridge, since 2021.
Nick says:
If you look at the Valley Gardens now, lovely as it is, you think ‘how on earth did we manage to stage a big event there with parking and everything?’.
Planning for the spring event begins 18 months in advance. Only two full-time and three part-time staff are employed on the shows year-round but hundreds of volunteers and workers are drafted in at showtime.
When we met Nick at the showground on Tuesday, it was the second day of set-up. The half-a-dozen show gardens and 10 or so creative borders were in the early stages of being created and it was hard to believe how much the site will have changed by the time the first visitors arrive on Thursday.
Numbers are still recovering from covid. Nick says:
We expect up to 50,000 over four days. That figure might have been 50,000 to 55,000 people before covid but it’s still a huge amount of people for four days.
Opening day on Thursday is traditionally the busiest, but times are changing:
Thursday is traditionally the day when the most eager gardeners come, but we have seen a trend towards more weekend visitors, because people’s time is precious and they can’t all have a day off. We are fortunate to have weekdays and weekends.
When you set an event of this scale up you may as well have it for four days because it’s all up and it’s all there, and also two days might not give people an opportunity to explore the entire show.
A visitor at a previous show.
More interactive
This year’s event includes three live stages, demonstrations, workshops and more. The show has evolved since Nick took charge in 2014.
He says:
We have introduced far more engaging and immersive experiences. There’s a lot more demonstrations and interactivity because people want to be a part of something rather than just look at something from a distance.
Floral art at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show.
Ticket prices have also changed. Adult entry ticket is now £28, although tickets were on offer at £23 for six months in the run-up to the show. Does this represent good value? Nick says:
I think our tickets are extremely good value. If you look at the price we have charged over the last five years, it’s only gone up by 5-10 per cent whereas our costs have gone up by perhaps three times that in terms of materials and the costs of logistics. We are very aware of prices and keep them as accessible as possible.
If you look at other national gardening events, I think you will find we are exceptional value for money.
Profits go back to the society, which uses the funds to support other horticultural organisations.
Next month’s Chelsea Flower Show may be the most prestigious on the calendar, but Harrogate has a special place in gardeners’ affections because it is the first of the big national events.
Nick says:
It’s that sense of anticipation, especially because we have had some nice weather this year so people have got outside and thought about what they’d like to do in their gardens and we're in a position to say ‘here are some great ideas’.
The spring and autumn shows are very different beasts. Spring is about anticipation of the season ahead, whereas autumn is a celebration of the season we have had.
Having two such big events on the doorstep is great for local gardeners. But they’re also good news for the local economy, because they reinforce Harrogate’s reputation as a floral town.
Nick says:
We are a national event and we are proud to be able to keep Harrogate on the floral map. Gardening is integral to Harrogate and the Harrogate district. It dates back to the Victorian idea of a floral town and we are very happy to continue that.
More details of the show are available here.
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