Taunton Flower Show is an annual flower show held in Taunton, Somerset, England. It was first held on August 16, 1866 in the grounds of a Mr Kinglake of Taunton and led, in the course of time, to the establishment of Vivary Park at top of the town’s High Street. The fist show featured competitive classes for professional gardeners, cottagers and ladies' flower classes.
The show has weathered two world wars and even a flash flood in 1997 when the park appeared to revert to its historic role as the fishponds of the Bishop of Winchester (Vivary being derived from Vivarium - Latin for ‘fishpond’). Exhibitors had worked up to midnight to set up their displays the evening before the show. Torrential rain overnight meant the site was two feet deep in water as day dawned. The public were barred entry on the grounds of concern for their safety and judges donned waders to examine the entries before making way for the sad sight of workmen dismantling what they could as the waters subsided.
The show is sometimes subject to the vagaries of the weather. In 2001 one weather report on the first morning forecast a heatwave, unhelpfully stated that anyone attending the show would be fried alive. It took considerable effort to get the message to other media commentators that the tents were actually the coolest place to evade the excessive heat but attendances were demonstrably down that year. 2007 was a very wet summer but the weather cleared just in time and the show went ahead as planned.
The public will always determine the fate of each year’s event. It relies on amateurs and professional horticulturalists and floriculturalists to provide exhibits and trade displays of a high standard. Garden Clubs are especially welcomed and many of their members volunteer to take their turn in stewarding for a few hours during the two days. As a registered charity, Taunton Flower Show relies entirely on the voluntary effort of many gifted and dedicated people to ensure the horticultural heritage will be handed on to successive generations.
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The show has moved on from that initial show in 1866 and now features a wonderful floral marquee, marching bands, arena events, garden traders. The recent introduction of New Orleans-style Jazz has provided a lighter accompaniment to the tasteful dining experience on offer adjacent to the fountain. Thrills if not spills are guaranteed by top class entertainment in the arena with thought-provoking opportunities for dedicated gardeners in a Garden Doctor Forum and Lecture programme located in the ‘Seeds of Knowledge’ Tent.
141 years on it seems that Taunton Flower Show is still prospering. Indeed Mr H Fox, who won a prize in 1866 for Achimenes is the great uncle of Richard Fox, one of the present show committee members and who has worked tirelessly for the Taunton Flower Show for 36 years.
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