Spring always flips my mood the second it shows up, and Floriade is exactly the kind of day that cashes in on that. Went on the Saturday afternoon, around 3 or 4pm, not too crowded and every bed was in full bloom.
What’s on this year
This year’s theme is Feast of Flowers, running 12 September to 11 October, 9:30am to 5:30pm daily at Commonwealth Park, and it’s completely free to walk through. There’s a Ferris wheel for photos over the top of the flower beds, a craft and makers market, food stalls scattered through the park, and a full program of live performances.
We grabbed a bag of gummy lollies and went pineapple flavour, very sweet, couldn’t put it down even so, next time I’m trying the sour ones instead.
The ballet in the flowers
Caught a ballet performance on the Saturday, dancers right out among the garden beds, properly beautiful, like watching someone dance through a field of colour. At the end the performers called out “see you next year,” so it sounds like that particular act might only run the one season, worth checking the program on the day rather than assuming it’ll be on when you go.
NightFest, the after dark version
If you want to see it differently, NightFest runs four nights only, 1 to 4 October, gates open 6:30pm to 10:30pm, lit up flower beds, light installations, live music and food under the stars. Unlike the daytime festival, NightFest needs its own separate ticket, it’s not covered by the free general entry, so book ahead if you want to go, it tends to sell out.
Go soon if the flowers matter to you
We went when most beds were already in full bloom and the queues were short, but flowers don’t hang around forever once they’re at their peak, so if you’re after the best of the blooms, earlier in the run is safer than leaving it to the last week.
My favourites were the deep purple spiky-edged tulips and the black pansies, properly striking against everything else around them.
The bats
Honestly the most surprising part of the whole day had nothing to do with flowers. Looked up at a row of tall trees near the park and thought I was looking at some kind of fruit hanging everywhere, turned out to be bats, hundreds of them, just hanging upside down in broad daylight. Always figured bats stuck to dark, hidden spots, not out in the open like that. Turns out it’s a real, long running colony of grey-headed flying foxes that roosts at Commonwealth Park every year, thousands of them at peak times, and it’s a genuinely significant colony for the species. Worth knowing before you go so you’re not as startled as I was, and worth keeping your distance rather than getting close for a photo.
Worth the trip
If you’ve done the tulip festival at Bowral and found it was over in half an hour, Floriade is a different scale entirely, we comfortably filled half a day between the flowers, the market, the performances and wandering the park.
Good to know before you go
Parking gets tight during the festival since the park fills up fast, so plan your transport ahead rather than assuming you’ll find a spot nearby. Toilets are available throughout the park, including a parents’ room, and there’s a sensory hour from 9:30am on weekdays for anyone who needs a quieter visit.
Going in the school holidays
Free entry, a huge park to wander, and it overlaps nicely with the spring break. Check your state’s spring school holiday dates before you plan the trip, since the timing varies depending on where you’re travelling from.