The Ellerslie International Flower Show was an annual garden show held in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Previously held in the city of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, the show moved to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

at Hagley Park in 2008. Attendance is several tens of thousands of people at each event during the five days in which it is open to the public. The show has been held every year since 1994, except 1997 and 2011 (when it was cancelled due to the Christchurch earthquake). The first show was held in the

suburb of Ellerslie at the

Ellerslie Racecourse Ellerslie Racecourse is the main racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand, for thoroughbred racehorses. It is an undulating, grass circuit in the suburb of Ellerslie, with a circumference of just under 1,900 metres. Racing is conducted in a clockwi ...

in 1994. The members of The Rotary Club of Auckland wanted to establish a unique fundraiser to raise money for local charities, so they decided to host an event modelled on the famous Chelsea Flower Show in England. , it has distributed a total of $700,000 for charity. In 1998, it was moved to

Manurewa Manurewa is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand. It was part of Manukau City before the creation of the Auckland super city in 2010. It is located south of the Manukau City Centre, and southeast of Auckland CBD. The suburb is b ...

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though n ...

, where it was held at the Auckland Botanic Gardens until the final show November 2007. In 2004, the Rotary Club of Auckland sold the business to EFS Charitable Trust and SMC Group Ltd which now operates the event, with the intention of providing support at a community level and to the horticultural industry. On 19 November 2007, the organisers sold the name and their services to the

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, wh ...

for NZ$3 million. The show is worth $14 million to the regional economy each year. Auckland Regional Council chairman

Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...

suggests that a new flower show will be organised in Auckland to replace the Ellerslie Flower Show. The initial show in Christchurch, held in March 2009, attracted 75,000 visitors. Attendance in 2010 was 55,000, the 2011 event was cancelled due to the Canterbury Earthquakes, 45,000 attended in 2012 (that year, the show experienced adverse weather conditions). 2013 attendance is not yet known (in 2018!...), but the organisers think that attendance might be down compared to the previous year. On 2 December 2007, Auckland Flower Show Ltd announced that they will be continuing the tradition of the annual flower shows in Auckland with the Auckland Flower Show 2008, but there was no follow-up to the initial event.

References

External links

Ellerslie Flower ShowAuckland Flower Show 2008
{{Coord, -43.528, 172.626, display=title Flower festivals in New Zealand Tourist attractions in Christchurch Gardening in New Zealand Festivals in Christchurch Festivals in Auckland

See also

References

External links