The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has announced that their much loved shows will tour to varying locations, to promote gardening to as many people as possible. The changes will be a catalyst for new content for an exciting visitor experience.
Whilst the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and the RHS Malvern Spring Festival will remain in their current locations, the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival will become a biennial event, touring between the Badminton Estate in Gloucestershire and Hampton Court Palace. For 2024 and 2025, the RHS shows will remain at Hampton Court Palace as planned but for 2026, a new RHS Show will be set in the historic grounds of the Badminton Estate. Subsequently, in 2027, the show will return to Hampton Court Palace.
After 2024, its 25th anniversary, RHS Flower Show Tatton Park will return to the site every three years. In 2025, a new RHS Show will be set at Wentworth Woodhouse, one of the grandest stately homes in the country in Sheffield, and in 2026 RHS Show taking place on the Sandringham Estate, the private country retreat of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
The first RHS Urban Show, which took place in Manchester earlier this month will also relocate next year to a new, soon to be announced location. The RHS Urban Show diversifies from the traditional RHS Shows model with more focus on gardening for small spaces and community involvement.
According to the RHS, the changes will enable them to deliver world class horticulture to the doorsteps of members who may not have an RHS Garden near them and creating Shows in fixed venue sites means better sustainability opportunities too. A brave move by the RHS, as touring shows on the scale of Hampton Court are quite a logistical challenge, but the decision is a good one. Not only will the new locations attract a different audience, whom may not have attended otherwise, but the forced routine disruption should keep the shows fresh and relevant.
RHS Director General Clare Matterson said: “Our RHS Shows are without a doubt the best horticultural events in the world, however we must not and should not stand still. We owe it to the horticultural world, our invaluable RHS members, our visitors and our nation of gardeners to look at how and what we can do to create new content, work with new contributors and find ways to generate interest and inspiration both within our current much loved British events and in new locations with new Shows to work with new populations and people.
She added: “These are some of the biggest changes we’ve made to our Shows in a generation and we’re delighted to be extending our reach and making the RHS more accessible and welcoming to more people. We want to inspire current and new audiences with world class horticulture and provide access to the UK’s best plants people to help even more people garden and grow.”
RHS Director of Shows, Commercial and Innovation, Helena Pettit finished: “We have been working with our existing partners over the last few years to ensure that we can continue to deliver the amazing RHS Shows in the iconic sites, whilst innovating in new sites and having the ability to grow the number of communities, schools, designers, nurseries and all stakeholders that the RHS collaborates with. We’re excited about the opportunities these new partnerships in new locations will offer and will be able to get really creative with ideas and content for our visitors. At the same time we are delighted that we can continue to work with Historic Royal Palaces and Tatton Park to deliver these much loved events. We look forward to working with current friends and new to innovate and create the best horticultural events in the world.”