Preparations under way for 'special' RHS Malvern Spring Festival

BBC News

27-04-2025

The organiser of the RHS Malvern Spring Festival has spoken of how it feels like "a home from home" as preparations for the event near their finish.Kate Dufton, show lead, said gardens were "absolutely flying up" at the Three Counties Showground, where the Worcestershire festival begins on 8 May.One of the UK's first flower shows of the year, the event will see more than 100,000 people flock to the site to view gardeners' creations of all shapes, sizes and colours.Ms Dufton told BBC Hereford and Worcester the annual event felt like "one big family" and its welcoming nature encouraged people to return year after year.
"It holds a special place in a lot of people's hearts and feels like a home from home," she added.Planning for this year started the day after the 2024 show finished, with Ms Dufton describing it as a "365-day process".
She said timing and planning were key in setting up the show, along with keeping an eye on the weather forecast."It's having a plan A, B and potentially C in your back pocket but experience teaches you that," she added.The 2025 festival marks Ms Dufton's third year as its lead organiser and she said it was among the best events she had ever worked on, despite it being "quite a weight" on her shoulders."You have a blank canvas and off you go - you can imagine what you want and work out how you want to create it and bring things to life," she said.The RHS Malvern Spring Festival beings on 8 May and will run until 11 May.
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