With the Victorian September School Holidays just under two weeks away - Bendigo's Spring Bloom Festival is just about to kick off this weekend.
Tulips are colouring in the City of Greater Bendigo this week as the annual blooming display returns to the region. For the past 21 years the tulips have been essential to the welcoming of spring in September, with this year’s display boasting a whopping 43,000 tulips in 25 different varieties and around 15 different colours and textures.
Initially planted to brighten up the town centre, the tulips displays have become a major tourist attraction for the region and a central part of Bendigo’s annual calendar with an entire annual program of spring events spawning from the tradition. Under the umbrella, Bendigo Bloom, the program also includes outstanding lineup of wine, heritage, art, comedy, outdoor experiences and entertainment for the whole family to enjoy with many of the 60 experiences FREE for families and kids kick-starting mid-September.
Bendigo Bloom
- When: 14 September – 6 October 2024
- Where: Pall Mall and Conservatory Gardens
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around the region here.
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The tulip display is a meticulous marvel with the year-long process which starts in October, as soon as the previous year tulips are pulled from the garden beds, including curation, design and management from a team of twelve gardeners. The process is one of swiftness when it comes to planting to ensuring all 43,000 bulbs are planted quickly to ensure blooming at the same time, taking around 3 weeks, with some planter boxes containing upwards of 5000 tulip bulbs. to give you context, 43,000 tulips would wrap around the perimeter of the MCG oval almost 23 times, run up and down the length of the MCG pitch more than 62 times and wrap Melbourne’s famous Tan Track nearly 3 times. That’s a lot of flowers!
The display will in bloom from this weekend on 14 September until 6 October across Pall Mall and Conservatory Gardens. The spectacularly bright display generally first flowers in the first or second weeks of September and the display reaches its peak in the third week of September, perfectly timed for the school holidays. It’s certainly a display worth travelling to see!
The display only adds to Bendigo’s crowning name as Victorian Top Tourism Town for 2024, with Bendigo Bloom’s three-month program aimed at elevating the cultural, heritage and gastronomy offerings the town has. Some standout events in the Bendigo Bloom program alongside the Tulip Display include Bloom After Dark, which will run concurrently with the display, where guests can follow a free after dark trail to see the tulip beds illuminated, creative projections and giant flowers. For 2024, the Yi Yuan Chinese Gardens will be activated in celebration of the Chinese Year of the Dragon. More details of the overall Bendigo Bloom program can be found here.
Book a trip to Bendigo into your school holiday calendar!
For further information about Bendigo Bloom and the Annual Tulip Display head here.
