The Ellerslie International Flower Show was an annual garden show held in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Previously held in the city of

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, the show moved to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

at Hagley Park in 2008. Attendance is several tens of thousands of people at each event during the five days in which it is open to the public. The show has been held every year since 1994, except 1997 and 2011 (when it was cancelled due to the

Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region in the South Island, centred south-east of the centr ...

). The first show was held in the

suburb of Ellerslie at the

Ellerslie Racecourse Ellerslie Racecourse is the main racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand, for thoroughbred racehorses. It is an undulating, grass circuit in the suburb of Ellerslie, New Zealand, Ellerslie, with a circumference of just under 1,900 metres. Racing ...

in 1994. The members of The Rotary Club of Auckland wanted to establish a unique fundraiser to raise money for local charities, so they decided to host an event modelled on the famous

Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the Great Spring Show,Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural So ...

in England. , it has distributed a total of $700,000 for charity. In 1998, it was moved to

Manurewa Manurewa is a suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located south of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of the Auckland City Centre. It is home to the Auckland Botanic Gardens, which receives over a million visitors a year. Manurewa h ...

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

, where it was held at the

Auckland Botanic Gardens Auckland Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden in the New Zealand city of Auckland. It is located in the suburb of Manurewa, in the Manurewa (local board area), Manurewa Local Board Area. The garden covers , and holds more than 10,000 plants.Auc ...

until the final show November 2007. In 2004, the Rotary Club of Auckland sold the business to EFS Charitable Trust and SMC Group Ltd which now operates the event, with the intention of providing support at a community level and to the horticultural industry. On 19 November 2007, the organisers sold the name and their services to the

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council (CCC) is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Ma ...

for NZ$3 million. The show is worth $14 million to the regional economy each year.

Auckland Regional Council The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The ARC ...

chairman

Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Lee became Utah's senior senator in 2019, whe ...

suggests that a new flower show will be organised in Auckland to replace the Ellerslie Flower Show. The initial show in Christchurch, held in March 2009, attracted 75,000 visitors. Attendance in 2010 was 55,000, the 2011 event was cancelled due to the Canterbury Earthquakes, 45,000 attended in 2012 (that year, the show experienced adverse weather conditions). 2013 attendance is not yet known, but the organisers think that attendance might be down compared to the previous year. On 2 December 2007, Auckland Flower Show Ltd announced that they will be continuing the tradition of the annual flower shows in Auckland with the

Auckland Flower Show The Auckland Flower Show was a flower and garden show held in Alexandra Park in the suburb of Epsom, Auckland in November 2008. Previously, the Ellerslie Flower Show was held at the same time of year in Auckland, and had been held every year si ...

2008, but there was no follow-up to the initial event.

References

External links

Ellerslie Flower ShowAuckland Flower Show 2008
{{Coord, -43.528, 172.626, display=title Flower festivals in New Zealand Tourist attractions in Christchurch Gardening in New Zealand Festivals in Christchurch Festivals in Auckland Hagley Park, Christchurch

See also

References

External links