Much of the greenery you see around Singapore is due to the concerted efforts of Nparks, Singapore’s national parks board, but hidden away from the view of most tourists are pockets of greenery dotted around the island that are started and maintained by everyday Singaporeans. Part of NParks’ efforts to celebrate the efforts of community gardeners in Singapore this year of SG50, the inaugural Community Garden Festival was put together for these community gardeners and interested members of the public to come together to celebrate these grassroots gardening efforts with markets, competitions, demonstrations and more.

When

5 - 6 Sep 2015 &
12 - 13 Sep 2015

9am - 9pm on Saturdays
9am - 6pm on Sundays

Where

HortPark, Exhibition Gallery and Tent at the foyer.

HortPark is part of the Southern Ridges that comprises Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park, Kent Ridge Park and Labrador Nature Park. A beautiful cluster of parks that anyone can enjoy, the nearest MRT station is Labrador Park (CC27) on the Circle line. It’s about a 10 to 15-minute walk from the station.

What’s On?

Five celebratory SG50 Community in Bloom Gardens will be unveiled during the Community Garden Festival. The result of cooperation with 50 community gardening groups, these commemorative gardens highlight the spirit and importance of plants and greenery to Singapore’s landscape and community. Over 250 community gardeners participated to create the commemorative gardens with the themes of “People & Plants”, “People & Spaces” and “People & Landscapes”.

If bazaars are more your thing, there will be two happening over the course of the Festival – the Gardening Bazaar and the Food Bazaar, where vendors can set up booths to sell their gardening related items as well as food products. Keep an eye out for the Gardeners’ Market too, where gardeners sell their fresh and processed produce in farmers’ market style, rarely seen in Singapore. 

An Edibles Competition will also be held on 6 September. Did you know that fruits and vegetables such as chilli (cayene type), lady’s finger, brinjal (a.k.a. aubergine or eggplant), bitter gourd, cucumber, long bean, winter melon, lettuce, pumpkin, tomato, watermelon and papaya can grow in Singapore’s tropical climate? The top 10 entries will be placed on display – guess the weight correctly and you could stand to win vouchers.

You can also learn more about the history of Singapore at the Streets of Singapore showcase, which highlights 16 different species of trees that are associated with road and area names such as Kampong Glam, Katong and Tampines. Little-known amongst most Singaporeans is the fact that, for example, Kampong Glam, the seat of Malay heritage in Singapore, was named due to the abundance of Paper Bark trees in the area. What’s the connection, you ask? Visit the showcase and find out!

There will also be numerous gardening-related product demonstrations, talks, workshops and tours, such as the opportunity to tour the Pasir Panjang Nursery on 12 and 13 September only.  Special plants which are otherwise not commercially available will be on sale, and you can pick up tips on how to make use of tight spaces in apartments for gardening.

Of course, what’s a festival without live music? Sit back and enjoy the evening concert performances and family-friendly free movie screening on the second weekend of the Festival with the whole family!