New England Garden Festival & Garden Trail 2026
Description
New England Garden Festival 2026
Celebrate spring in the New England at the 2026 New England Garden Festival, held at Armidale Racecourse on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November 2026. This much-loved volunteer-run festival brings together magnificent gardens, regional creativity, local producers, specialist stallholders, live entertainment, food, workshops and family-friendly activities in one welcoming community celebration.
This year’s festival will feature special guests Hannah Moloney and Jerry Coleby-Williams from ABC TV’s Gardening Australia. Festival visitors will have the opportunity to hear from these highly regarded gardening experts through presentations, workshops and demonstrations focused on practical gardening, sustainability, cool-climate growing and resilient gardens.
All proceeds raised by the New England Garden Festival are returned to the local community through a grant round supporting not-for-profit community groups across the region. (see negf.com.au for details)
About the Festival
The New England Garden Festival showcases the vibrant towns, magnificent gardens, surrounding landscapes and welcoming people of the New England region. The festival town of Armidale and participating towns including Guyra, Glen Innes and Tenterfield each offer their own heritage streetscapes, seasonal beauty, creative culture, tourism experiences, arts attractions and access to beautiful countryside and national parks.
Across the two-day festival, visitors can enjoy garden stalls, plants, books, garden tools, food, workshops, demonstrations, raffles, a silent art auction, entertainment and products from small business stallholders and community groups from across the region.
Festival Highlights
· Special guest appearances by Hannah Moloney and Jerry Coleby-Williams from ABC TV’s Gardening Australia
· Workshops and demonstrations, with online registration required for workshop sessions
· Garden stalls, plants, books, tools, art, food and locally made products
· Live music, roving entertainment and family-friendly activities
· Open garden experiences across the New England region
· Community fundraising, with proceeds distributed through local not-for-profit grants
Tickets and Booking Information
Tickets will be available online via Humanitix and in person at the event. Workshop places are limited and must be booked online in advance. A separate booking is required for each workshop session and confirmation emails or tickets must be presented for workshop entry.
· Festival Admission — Adult Day Pass: $10 per day
· Festival Admission — Pensioner, Student or Disability Concession Card Holder Day Pass: $5 per day
· Youth aged 0–16: Free
· Raffle tickets: $5 each (prize details available at negf.com.au)
· Garden Trail - Adult: $10 per garden
· Garden Trail Concession: $5 per garden
· Garden Trail Bulk Pass per town: 20% discount applies if viewing all gardens in a single town:
Note - the bulk discount allow one entry to each of the open gardens in the relevant town.
When buying tickets and signing in to an Open Garden, you acknowlege and accept personal responsibilities for the various risks incurred in visiting a private garden.
Concession card holders must show a relevant and valid concession card at the entry gate.
Times
Saturday: 9:30 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday: 9:30 am - 2:00 pm
Tenterfield - Wednesday 28 October from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Glen Innes - Thursday 29 October from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Guyra - Friday 30 October from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Armidale - Saturday 31 October from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Armidale - Sunday 1 November from 9:30 am - 2:00 pm
Workshop tickets available online or at the festival Information Desk.
Times for some workshops may have changed. Please view the festival program online for the final timetable
Please ensure you have also purchased a ticket for Festival Entry on the day you are attending your workshop.
Time | Location | Workshop Name | Presenter | Ticket Price |
Saturday 31st October |
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10.00 am | Rm2 Upstairs Members stand | Designing your Garden - where to start? | Jane Gilpin | $40 |
10.15 am | Rm1 Upstairs Grandstand | Propagating Natives from Cuttings | Sabnam Tamang | $25 |
11.00 pm | Rm2 Upstairs Members stand | Composting: Turn Your Kitchen Waste Into Garden Gold | Hannah Moloney | $20 |
12.15 pm | Rm1 Upstairs Grandstand | UNE Science Experiment | UNE Discovery Voyager | $10 |
1.30 pm | Rm2 Upstairs Members stand | Fermenting Vegetables | Gal Winter | $30 |
3.00 pm | Rm2 Upstairs Members stand | Growing Peonies | Barry Philps | $10 |
4.00 pm | NEGF STAGE | Q and A | 4 Gardening Australia presenters | Free |
Sunday 1 November |
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10.00 am | Rm2 Upstairs Members stand | Grafting Grevilleas, banksias and other natives | Maria Hitchcock | $15 |
10.00 am | Rm1 Upstairs Grandstand | Rose Pruning and Care | Jude Costello | $10 |
11.30 am | Rm2 Upstairs Members stand | Vegetable seed saving and propagation | Jerry Coleby Williams | $20 |
12.45 pm | Rm1 Upstairs Grandstand | Making a Bokashi Bin - includes the bin and Bokashi mix | Berdine Warne | $40 |
12.45 pm | Rm2 Upstairs Members stand | Bees and Pollinators -Attracting and conserving them | Dr Carolyn Sonter | $10 |
Nursery Tours | ||||
1.00 pm | 80 Mann St Armidale | Armidale Tree Group Nursery Tour | Armidale Tree Group | $10 |
2.30 pm | 21 Kentucky St Armidale | Cedar Nursery - Behind the Scenes Tour | Cedar Nursery | $10 |
Raffles
Raffles will be drawn at the Festival at 12:30 pm on Sunday. Prize winners will be contacted to come and collect their prizes from the Festival Office.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity