Tickets are now on sale at New Zealand’s premier garden event.

Rapaura Springs Garden Marlborough, New Zealand’s premier garden event, was dreamt up by gardeners for gardeners. A celebration of Marlborough's stunning landscape, it showcases the very best the region has to offer with garden tours, garden-themed workshops and social events.

The full-day and half-day garden tours encompass everything from compact designer gardens in the heart of town to breath-taking country estates. Take the opportunity to brush up on your skills and horticultural knowledge by learning from New Zealand and international experts and mingle with like-minded gardeners and guest speakers at the Saturday night Garden Party.

The festival culminates on the Sunday with the Garden Fête, with over 200 stallholders offering the very best New Zealand produce. Entrance to the Fête is free so bring the family and enjoy a full day's entertainment.

With the stunning Marlborough Sounds on its doorstep, rugged mountain ranges, fertile plains and world-class Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough has a lot to offer – so stay for the whole weekend, or longer!

Last year we were chuffed to deliver our full programme of tours and workshops, one of the few major Marlborough events to run as normal during a uniquely difficult year. In 2021 Rapaura Springs Garden Marlborough is back bigger and better than ever, and it’s our great pleasure to welcome you. The response from our local community and gardeners throughout the country has been immense, and we hope you too will love visiting us in Marlborough to celebrate and wind down, sharing our passion for gardening and good living as a way of life.

As usual, the festival involves volunteers in the community who generously give their time to bring together the best event of its kind in New Zealand: the friendly and helpful people who staff our registration operation, the tour guides and workshop hosts, helpers at the fete site, those who make lunches and morning teas and other food, and many, many others. Our event depends on our extraordinary garden owners, who work tirelessly during the year to open their amazing environments for others to share in and be inspired by. Behind Rapaura Springs Garden Marlborough is a whole community of people, who come together to ensure we bring you a truly unforgettable weekend.

We invite a very high calibre of guest speakers to our workshop programme.

This is a wonderful opportunity to brush up on your skills, deepen your horticultural knowledge and learn professional gardening tricks and tips from prominent New Zealand and international gardening experts.

Saturday 6 November 6.30 pm - 9.30 pm $95 Anyone at the annual Garden Party in the last two years will need no reminding why we’ve leapt at the chance to go back to the wondrous Longfield. Like Lynne and Rob Hammond, its equally splendid owners, the opulent, grand and theatrical Longfield really understands what it means to party. Get glamorous, meet old friends and new –including our fabulous visiting presenters –feast on local food and delicious Rapaura Springs wines and soak up the cool sounds from a range of musicians. As you move around the garden, prepare to be amazed. Statues, fountains, formal garden rooms and classical columns, intriguing hedges, citrus and olives–you could be in a scene from Fellini’s La Dulce Vita.

There’s a bus available to take you to Longfield from town and back, don’t forget to purchase tickets at Rapaura Springs Garden Marlborough HQ.

The Stihl Shop Garden Fete is a highlight in Marlborough’s event calendar, and one of our largest free community happenings. A day at the fete in Churchill Glade is a perfect way to round off Rapaura Springs Garden Marlborough and to experience the fabulous collection of plants people, artisan vendors and garden product stalls offering a wide variety of high-quality items for the garden and gardener.

Each year we add new sites to our list of regular stallholders, many of whom travel to Marlborough especially for the event to tempt you with their wares. And the popular ‘Eat Street’ is back, packed with stalls offering delicious food from the cuisines of the world.

Entertainment will include music from local artists and groups, and a kids’ activity trail around the park. Bring a picnic rug and find a quiet space alongside the stream, or under a canopy of magnificent trees, to sit with friends and family to take in a special atmosphere on the day. Located in Churchill Glade on Parker Street, inside the picturesque Pollard Park, the fete is an easy 10-15 minute walk from Garden Marlborough HQ, and car parking is available at the Marlborough Girls College close by.

Come on out and enjoy the Stihl Shop Garden Fete in Churchill Glade, we look forward to seeing you there!

Workshop venues will be allocated closer to the event weekend and will be notified upon registering at the Rapaura Springs Garden Marlborough Headquarters.

Following on from the success in 2020, this year the Rapaura Springs pop-up bar returns to Garden Marlborough. Just down the hall from our office at the Blenheim Club, the bar is the perfect way to wind down as you enjoy a glass of delicious Rapaura Springs wine and great local food. This is an opportunity to meet the extended Rapaura Springs family, and to learn more about their wines and their people as you sit down and take it easy. You’ll likely bump into workshop presenters, garden owners and other members of the wider Garden Marlborough family, and it’s a great chance to meet your fellow visitors. You can also view the stunning pieces of botanical art, to be auctioned at Saturday night’s garden party.

The Rapaura Springs Bar will be open from 4-7 pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Do drop by after your workshop or tour, we look forward to seeing you there!