Singapore Garden Festival 2010 – A good show indeed!

15 to 22 July 2010, Singapore – The only biennial garden festival in the world to bring together award-winning gardening luminaries from all around the globe under one roof is back for the 3rd time. Occupying over 3 hectares of space on level 4 and 6 of Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre, organizers of the festival is expecting over 300,000 visitors over the 8-day festival.

Some quick facts and figures of this year’s Singapore Garden Festival:

31 Masterpieces by award-winning garden and floral designers from 17 countries
7 Fantasy show gardens
8 Landscape show gardens
16 Floral Windows to the World displays specially created by winners from world renowned floral and garden shows such as the Chelsea Flower Show (UK), the Philadelphia Flower Show (US), and the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (Australia)
Over 250,000 tropical and temperate plants used
Over 65,000 stalks of cut flowers on display

If you haven’t had the chance to visit the Singapore Garden Festival you still have until this Thursday 22 July 2010 to do so. Here’s a flavour of what to expect. More photos and videos will be uploaded in another blog entry.

I did my rounds on Sunday for up to 7 hours and was fortunate to have a friend who has been volunteering as a guide for 2 years to show me around.

Starting from Level 6, I checked out the Best of Show winning fantasy garden – Damian Tang’s Mysterious Jungle of Pandora. The word Pandora evokes images of lush jungles; magical landscapes with a rich ecosystem that the movie Avatar was based on. However, the origin arises from ancient Greek mythology where Pandora was the first woman created by the Greek Gods who bestowed beauty and magical gifts. In one myth, she unleashed suffering into the world when she opened “Pandora’s Box”. In another myth, that same box contained gifts from the Greek Gods for mankind which escaped to heaven when the box was opened, leaving only hope behind.

Incorporating both concepts of Pandora, a rich intense jungle environment shadowed by underlying tones of danger and the unknown is created. Just like a crystal refracts light in a multitude of ways, the jungle of Pandora viewed from different perspectives will highlight various aspects such as the Scope of Eternal Hope and the Nocturnal Garden – creating a mysterious environment hat would captivate and overwhelm the senses in us.

The designer, Damian Tang is the Assistant Director of Design Branch in NParks and holds the appointment of President of the Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects. His portfolio includes regional, urban and neighbourhood parks design; streetscape design such as the Punggol 21, Singapore’s first environmentally-friendly “eco-town”. Damian has also collaborated on key projects such as the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Masterplan with urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore and the Kallang River Master Plan with Public Utilities Board, Singapore. Damian is a Gold award recipient at the SILA Professional Design Awards in 2009. Damian’s implementing partner for The Mysterious Jungle of Pandora is Kiat Lee Landscape and Building Pte Ltd.

The Scope of Eternal Hope

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AegtGT_9nxo]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO8-g5aMlik]

The Man who Planted Trees

Also worth mentioning, The Man Who Planted Trees is a five-metre tall centrepiece that pays tribute to all individuals who have played a part in Singapore’s greening journey. The Man was inspired by Jean Giono’s eco-fable, The Man who Planted Trees.

Check out the videos and photos below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR3KmbT1Dzk]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TThvl1xawWI]