Floriade began in 1988 as a commemoration of Australia's Bicentenary and Canberra's 75th birthday. Floriade blossomed for the first time with a stunning floral display of exotic bulbs and annuals, which grow beautifully in Canberra's climate. The community embraced the inaugural Floriade, making it such a success that it became an annual event - Australia's celebration of spring. Since its beginnings in 1988 Floriade has been held in the city, in Canberra's Commonwealth Park.
Floriade is Australia's premier spring festival and a world-class floral spectacular. More than one million blooms create a stunning backdrop to a month-long festival filled with music, cultural celebrations, horticultural workshops, artistic displays, entertainment and recreational activities. Floriade runs from mid-September to mid-October.
We were very lucky to be in Canberra at this time, and took ourselves off to Commonwealth Park where this stunning event takes place. Here are some impressions:
You could ride on the Ferris wheel for a bird’s eye view of the spectacular displays.
This bed of flowers was planted to represent a giant watermelon wedge.
These dark flowers in amongst the red ones represented the watermelon seeds.
A sculpture by some Canberra art students of Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles (1952), owned by the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
From www.lonelycolours.com/artists/abstractexpress...
In 1973, the Australian Government purchased the work for $AUD1.3 million. This controversial purchase by the then Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam elicited an amount of public debate, firstly over the painting's value - this was the highest price ever paid for a “modern painting” - secondly questioning the financial aptitudes of the then Labor Party, and finally a novel debate between art-lovers and many who considered abstract art in general a worthless investment. In the conservative climate of the time, the purchase created a political and media scandal. (From Wikipedia.)
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