Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers 2009

From Friday, 18 September to Sunday, 27 of September, the Carnival of Flowers will be held in Toowoomba, Queensland. The Carnival of Flowers is a celebration of the gardens in the city of Toowoomba, having started in 1949 to aid the economy whilst it was under war related stresses. This year's theme is 'Celebrating A Journey of Colour, Community and Characters', and is a celebration of 60 years of the Carnival of Flowers. The secondary title for this year's carnival is the Diamond Anniversary carnival.

Toowoomba Carnival Of Flowers: Competitions

The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers boasts a number of gardening competitions that will be witnessed by the public, both item related and garden related.

Three item-related competitions are to be held in the 2009 Carnival of Flowers. The first of these competitions is the Window Display Competition, which encourages local schools and businesses to prepare their windows in Carnival of Flowers related decorations. Second competition is the Shutterbug Tales Photographic Competition, which rewards photographers for capturing an image of the theme of the Carnival of Flowers. The Shutterbug Tales Photographic Competition has three separate categories: one for students, an open category and a historical category. The third competition is the floral design competition, a competition that allows people to enter their floral arrangements to be judged.

The garden related competitions are the true focus of the Carnival of Flowers, with many people entering their gardens and allowing visitors to go through them. There are also organized bus tours, which travel around the various gardens in the city, and can be a great way to see the great gardens that have been prepared for the carnival.

Toowoomba Carnival Of Flowers: Floral Parade

Each year a floral parade is held as part of the Carnival of Flowers. The parade consists of floats and community groups such as musicians marching through the central business district of Toowoomba city. The Parade starts at the corner of Herries and Hume Street, then travelling to Ruthven Street and down the main street to Chalk Drive before finishing in Queen's Park. This year there are 40 planned floats and also an opportunity for children to join in by creating pavement chalk art. In order to view the parade people may watch from the sidewalk, or pay $12 for covered seating. To book a covered seat, call 1300 655 299 for details from the Empire Theatre box office.