This page is for Open Garden owners (or those considering it).
If you’ve put in the hard yards and want to share your garden with other avid gardeners and nature lovers in the 2026 Festival of Gardens, we’d love to hear from you.
Opening every second year in late October / early November (even years), featuring an average of 20 gardens, the Festival has more than 15,000 garden visits.
Expressions of interest for the 2026 Festival of Gardens
are now open.
Next year’s festival will run from Saturday 24th October through to Tuesday 3rd November (Melbourne Cup Day), with all gardens closed on Wednesday 28th October. 10 days of open garden gloriousness!
Ideally, gardens will open each day, however organisers recognise this may not be possible for every garden.
The festival showcases grand country gardens, historic gardens, verge gardens, sculpture gardens and town gardens of many varieties. To be considered, your garden must be located in the Mount Alexander Shire.
The theme of the 2026 festival, The Solace of Gardening, recognises how the garden, and indeed the act of gardening, holds such a special place for so many of us. There are health benefits, it can be a chance to connect with nature and an opportunity to create and be surrounded by beauty.
To register your interest and request an application form, please email festivalofgardens@gmail.com by no later than Friday 29th August 2025.
October 2026 may seem like a long way off, but the process of garden assessment and selection, as well as putting together the souvenir program and a comprehensive promotional campaign requires twelve months for the volunteer committee. This also provides gardeners with plenty of planning and preparation time.
THE PROCESS
During November 2025, each prospective garden will be visited by independent assessors from outside the Mt Alexander Shire. Once assessed for suitability under the Festival of Gardens guidelines, successful applicants will be notified, giving them around 12 months to prepare their gardens for the Festival in 2026.
Our gardeners find the experience of opening their gardens to be rewarding and it creates a strong community of kindred spirits. Our garden visitors love it and many come back every festival to enjoy both the old and the new gardens in Shire.