October 12th, 2024Castlemaine and district to host festival of gardens

Garden lovers will have a superb opportunity to explore multiple stunning private gardens during the Castlemaine and District Festival of Gardens this November.     

A curated selection of 23 gardens will open during Melbourne Cup week, from Saturday, November 2 to Sunday, November 10.     

A number of properties are located in Castlemaine itself, while others can be found a short drive away, in outer areas of Mount Alexander Shire.

The theme of the festival, The Art of  Gardening, celebrates the creativity of  gardeners who have turned their patches of soil into environmental masterpieces.     

Like artists, gardeners employ all the essential elements of art in their creations:  colour, line, shape, form, tone and texture while adding in a good number of the  principles as well: contrast, balance, emphasis, proportion, repetition and pattern.

Visitors will be inspired as they meander around a diverse selection of gardens,  with their creators on hand to share their knowledge.

Several properties offer plants and handcrafted items for sale, providing an opportunity to take home a memento.     

The festival showcases grand country gardens, historic gardens, verge gardens, sculpture gardens, town gardens of many varieties and a purpose-built accessible garden.

Regular visitors will be delighted to see a number of gardens which have been part of the festival for many years, together with 13 new gardens to discover.     

A souvenir festival program is available at www.festivalofgardens.org, as well as from retail outlets around the Mount Alexander Shire and Bendigo.

Garden devotees can follow the festival on Facebook CastlemaineDistrictFestivalOfGardens and Instagram festivalofgardens or by signing up for the occasional e-newsletter from the website.     

Entry to each garden is $5 per adult, children free. Payment is by cash, direct to the gardener at the gate.