A Trip To Holker Garden Festival

It was an early start on Saturday morning for me and Mr.B 🙂 Bags packed, camera charged and tickets at the ready – Holker Garden Festival here we come! 😀 As you know, we love to visit the Lakes when ever we can, but it was the first time we’d had ever visited Holker. After driving around picturesque lanes, we arrived, parked up and made our way to the festival. The sun was shining 🙂 Fab! Walking into the grounds there were so many things to take in. We first caught up with our friends Gary & Pete from the Big Allotment Challenge. Their stall looked superb!

We were also keen to listen to Pete & Gary’s talk about their time on the Big Allotment Challenge 🙂 It was very entertaining – they do make me chuckle 😀

It was nice to see the winner Alex, in the audience from 2014.

I’d also wanted to go to James Wong’s talk in the afternoon. James’s new book ‘Grow For Flavour’ was available to buy and he was also doing a book signing 🙂 I’d wanted to grab a copy at The Edible Garden Show but they had sold out. Just before his talk we had a chat about our allotment, beekeeping and my blog. I’m looking forward to keeping in touch with him 🙂

The talk was great. We got a real feel for what the book was all about and we’re hoping to use some of the methods and techniques James talked about. The room was packed! We had to stand up at the back.

After a quick break for some tasty local food and drink, it was time to explore the grounds… Here’s what we found 🙂

Fabulous blooms in the Horticultural Marquee…

There was a real buzz in the air… People sat around enjoying food from the various stalls and marquees. I have to admit, I did do a little bit of dancing when we stopped to watch a group of talented drummers 🙂

I would have totally dressed up like a bee for the day had I have known 🙂 buzz buzz!

We had a chat with the people from the Furness Beekeepers Association, they had an observation hive with them. Lots of bees busy working hard, waggle dancing and tending to the queen – fascinating! We tried some of the local honey – sweet stuff 🙂

One of the things I was really impressed with, was that they allowed dogs around the grounds. It was lovely to see so many out enjoying the day (including two very pampered pooches! :D)…

There were endless stalls filled with lots of garden goodies. Pretty plants, garden inspired gifts and country clothes 🙂

You could find plenty of design ideas from the show gardens too. From urban styles, wild meadow and rockeries, there was tons of inspiration to be had…

There’s so much to see and do at the Holker Garden Festival. It was a grand day out for us and I’m sure you’d love it as well! 🙂 After lots of exploring, shopping, relaxing and taking in the festival atmosphere, it was time to put our feet up and enjoy a hilarious evening with Pete & Gary.