Southport Flower Show 2023: Take a look inside as festival makes spectacular return

Southport Flower Show is the UK’s largest independent festival of its kind and is famous for stunning show gardens, the grand floral marquee and keenly contested amateur competitions. Run over four days - from Thursday, 17 August to Sunday, 20 August - it is held in the 34-acre Victoria Park close to the centre of the seaside town.

It's been 99 years since the first show, with thousands of people returning in 2023 for a family day out. Visitors can enjoy a wealth of gardening inspiration from top experts. There’s a demonstration kitchen with celebrity chefs and a packed entertainment programme featuring Mr Tumble and Lizzie Acker. There is also live music all day long on the piazza stage.

Organisers of this year’s show commissioned award-winning designer Carolyn Hardern to create its first-ever Menopause Garden. The garden - titled "Circles of Strength" - features plants used in the production of menopause remedies and was built by Jackie Knight.

Jackie told LiverpoolWorld: "We're meeting lots of friendly faces, there’s so many people that you know here, local people that you’ve worked for, people that you’ve never met, people admiring it, it’s fantastic. We came to the show last year and it had such a good vibe when we were asked to do the show this year I was like, Oh wow, yes I’m definitely doing it. It’s an honour to be asked to do it so it’s great"

The packed programme of entertainment in the arena includes BMX riders, birds of prey demonstrations and a dog display team. Southport is a dog-friendly event, with visitors welcome to bring along their well-behaved pets on a lead.

Though the show has been basking in the sunshine, the wettest July on record in the region has influenced the type of plants on display.

Watch the video above for a look inside this year’s Southport Flower Show and to hear from some of the key people at the festival.