Fruits, vegetables take centre stage at new festival

SINGAPORE — Gardening enthusiasts can now celebrate their passion at the inaugural Community Garden Festival, where they can sell their wares at a farmers’ market and trade tips with other “green fingers”.

Launched today (Sept 6) by the National Parks Board (NParks) at HortPark, the festival features a slate of activities, including gardening-related product demonstrations, talks and workshops, and a food bazaar. 

The second instalment of the festival is set for the next weekend, and the festival will be an annual affair. 

An inaugural fruits and vegetables competition at the festival has received overwhelming response from gardeners, attracting 900 entries from individuals and groups, the agency said in a press release. The top 10 entries in 12 vegetable and fruit categories are showcased at the festival.

Next weekend, NParks will organise exclusive tours for the public to catch a glimpse of the plants grown in Pasir Panjang Nursery and hold an outdoor movie screening. 

The nursery, which features extensive collections of plants, is usually closed to the public.

The public can also take the opportunity to view five SG50 Community In Bloom Gardens, which have been created to celebrate Singapore’s 50th birthday. The gardens with different themes were created with help from 50 community gardening groups, said NParks.

Another festival highlight is the new Streets Of Singapore Walk. The tree-lined stretch will showcase 15 different species of trees that are associated with road names such as Katong and Tampines. 

Over the weekend, NParks launched the third edition of one of the bestselling gardening books in Singapore, 1001 Garden Plants in Singapore. First published in 2003 as a pictorial reference guide, the 824-page book features about 2,000 species of plants that are found in Singapore’s public green spaces. 

Priced at S$27.90, the book will be available at the Gardens Shops at Singapore Botanic Gardens from Sept 8, and at major bookstores from Sept 23.