Canada Blooms Co-location Newsletter June 2011

An exclusive peek at Canada Blooms the Flower & Garden Festival

March 16-25 2012

Sarah Harmer Garden by Oriole - julesdesign.ca

PICTURES COURTESY OF JULESDESIGN.CA

Canada Blooms and the National Home Show Sign Agreement to Co-Locate

Canada Blooms: The Flower and Garden Festival and the National Home Show have signed an agreement that will see the two powerhouse events taking place side by side beginning next year. This will result in creating the single largest home and garden experience in North America.

“The idea for co-locating the events is a natural extension of our audience interests,” explained Tom Baugh, CEO of Marketplace Events. “Guests attending The National Home Show love the event but consistently tell us they want to see bigger and better gardens and floral displays. Guests attending Canada Blooms (virtually all homeowners) love their garden festival and will be thrilled in seeing its growth in stature under this new arrangement.”

“Putting these events side-by-side creates a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” said Gerry Ginsberg, General Manager of Canada Blooms. ” We strongly believe this co-location will allow us to achieve a new standard of excellence and significantly enhance the customer experience for hundreds of thousands of garden and home enthusiasts throughout Ontario that visit these events each year.”

The agreement to co-locate is not a merger, each event will maintain its own identity. Both shows will run for ten days, from March 16-25, 2012, at the Direct Energy Centre. Canada Blooms, presented by Home Depot, will create and expand their feature gardens and floral displays in the larger Hall A with the Canada Blooms Marketplace moving into Heritage Court. The National Home Show, presented by REMAX, will occupy Halls B, C, D, F, G and H.

As a convenience to consumers, a single ticket purchased for either event will allow attendees to visit Canada Blooms, The National Home Show or both events.

We are hard at work planning next year’s festival, themed ‘CitiCulture’, and we look forward to a bigger and better Canada Blooms experience. We value your input, please take a moment to fill out a brief online survey.

Canada Blooms has been named Garden Tourism Festival of the Year. The Garden Tourism Awards, presented at the 2011 Garden Tourism Conference, are awarded to organizations and individuals who have distinguished themselves in the development and promotion of the garden experience as a tourism attraction.
The Honourable Peter Kent, Canada’s Environment Minister, was on hand to congratulate the winners and said, “Whether internationally-known like the Montreal Botanical Garden and Vancouver Island’s Butchart Gardens, or known primarily to local visitors, like the oasis of green in the midst of Toronto’s crowded concrete highways at Fort York National Historic Site, gardens are a Canadian natural treasure and must be protected and preserved and, most importantly, enjoyed by Canadians and visitors alike.”

In addition, Canada Blooms has also been named as One of the Top 100 Events in Ontario by Festivals and Events Ontario, a distinction presented to a select few of the over 2,000 events that occur annually in the province. Canada Blooms was also recognized as a
Festival of Distinction, an honour presented to a selected group of the most well-known
and respected celebrations in Ontario.

The Toronto Botanical Garden is presenting a FREE Edwards Summer Music Series. Don’t
miss this exciting opportunity to experience music and dance from across the artistic

spectrum set within the beautiful gardens of the Toronto Botanical Garden, Thursday
evenings from June 30th to August 18th starting at 7:00 pm.

The series is hosted by Murray Foster and Errol Nazareth and features the musical stylings
of Maza Meze, Ladies of the Canyon, Justin Rutledge, Samba Squad and more.

To find out more about this exciting event click here.

Experience the wonder of nature at its finest.
Travel the VIA Rail Garden Route to discover 19

of the country’s most magnificent
feature gardens and countless local garden attractions.
In addition, admire the beauty of the 27 award-winning Communities in Bloom. For more information, visit viarail.ca/garden.

Treat yourself to the perfect vacation, thanks to VIA Rail. Take advantage of special fares all summer long and enjoy a train trip that will appeal to young and old alike.
1-888-VIA RAIL (1-888–842-7245)

viarail.ca

Looking for a special day out? Why not enjoy a free guided tour of some of the best gardens (May to September). The Toronto Botanical Garden offers free 90-minute tours of the TBG and Edwards Gardens on Tuesdays at 10 am and Wednesday at 7 pm. Free 60-minute tours of the Toronto Music Garden are available Wednesdays at 11 am and Thursdays at 5:30 pm.

Custom packages are available and make a wonderful gift or a great way to celebrate any occasion. To book a tour of obtain more information please contact tourguides@torontobotanicalgarden.ca.

If you have an upcoming garden related event that is of interest to our readers let us know at info@canadablooms.com and we might include it in upcoming issues of our newsletter.

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