Floriade 2024 starts in Commonwealth Park on Saturday September 14, the 37th annual celebration of spring in Canberra.
So it's a good time to look back over the years and recall some of our favourite memories of Canberra's famous tourist event. The big memories - and the random, obscure memories.
THE QUEEN'S VISIT IN 2011
In what turned out to be her final visit to Canberra, Queen Elizabeth II visited Floriade in 2011.
She and Prince Philip arrived in style, sailing up Lake Burley Griffin on a navy barge from Government House, with crowds waving from the banks.
The Queen wore shades of lavender and silk orchids as magpies pecked at the manicured lawns. And the monarch was lucky enough to meet a true Canberra celebrity - long-time Floriade head gardener Andrew Forster. I bet she talked about it for years.
THE FACE OF FLORIADE
No doubt it added a fair whack to the financial cost of putting on Floriade, but I do miss the Face of Floriade. It was all a bit glamorous.
Past faces have included Antonia Kidman (sister of Nicole), model and author Tara Moss, model and actress Kristy Hinze and surfer Layne Beachley.
They were usually decked out in a dress made of real flowers and paraded in front of the media to kickstart the festival of spring. The flower-frocked celebrity was a way to get the national media interested as well.
I still remember a very slim Antonia Kidman in 2009 struggling with her strapless dress, made from fresh orchids, hoicking it up as she posed with the daffodils.
The face of Floriade probably belongs in the past, to another time. And, like, who would we get now? Some random from Love Island or MAFS? No thanks.
WHAT THE DUCK?
Do you remember the duck fashion parade? It was held at least once at Floriade - in 2008 - we have photographic evidence.
The ducks paraded down the catwalk in floral-themed dresses looking like the guys from Queer Eye had got to Jemima Puddle-Duck.
I've since read that those fashionable fowl might have since been retired. I hope so. And I hope they're on a nice farm somewhere sans clothes, doing what ducks do.
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
Remember that time Brooke Forrester turned up at Floriade? Totally happened.
Hollywood soap star Katherine Kelly Lang, aka Brooke Logan Forrester in The Bold and the Beautiful, was a surprise guest at Floriade in 2015.
She was there to flog her kaftan range. (''I heard about Floriade, the flower festival, and I use a lot of flowers in the kaftan range,'' she said at the time).
And she was a delight. Down-to-earth. Lovely to fans. And in a totally un-Hollywood-way, didn't mind telling anyone her age (54 back then).
ORGANGATE
Floriade is not usually a hotbed of controversy but in 2016 there was a stand-off between the organisers and the owner of a travelling concert organ.
The man and his Australia Fair 73-key Verbeeck concert organ were locked out after Floriade organisers said he hadn't paid his fees. He said the cheque was in the mail.
To add insult to injury, the man reckoned he could hear a recording of the organ music being played inside the gates while he languished outside.
VIEW FROM THE FERRIS WHEEL
It's a must every year - take a ride on the ferris wheel to see Floriade from above and the images created in the flower beds by the very clever team of gardeners from the ACT government.
Our favourite image in the flower beds was was of Dame Edna's glasses, Peter Allen's piano keys and the sails of the Opera House in 2007 when the theme was Aussie icons, myths and legends.
Here's to making more memories at Floriade 2024.
- Floriade is in Commonwealth Park from September 14 to October 13.
