At Café Valenti, the new (though temporary!) centre of Commonwealth Park, media, sponsors and excited onlookers gathered for the launch of Floriade 2013.
With Virginia Haussegger once again assuming the role of MC, and a collection of brightly coloured side-show alley performers moving around outside the tent, this year’s theme of Beautiful Innovation was formally announced. Floriade will showcase the influence Canberra has had across the nation, with it’s national institutions, research centres and arts facilities providing a central focus for all Australians.
ACT Minister for Tourism, Mr Andrew Barr was also on hand to demonstrate the ongoing support of local government in the festival – highlighting the impact Floriade has for region. Last year saw over 440,000 visitors make their way through the gates, contributing over $30 million to the local economy – another record for the show.
Four weeks – Four approaches
This year, Floriade is taking Beautiful innovation and applying it four different ways across the four weeks of the festival.
SMART LIVING – opportunities to learn from leaders in sustainable living and bio-organic gardening.
FUTURE STYLE – Inventive designs, new age trends and cutting-edge fashions with trendsetters and experts in the field.
INVENTION – Some of Australia’s prolific inventors and scientists will allow us to pick their brains – including Dr Karl. Be inspired by some of Australia’s most innovative ideas, with entries for the Aspiring Inventors Competition on display.
CONTEMPORARY CULTURES – Be entertained by traditional dances and watch as experienced chefs whip up a range of delicious cultural dishes.
A Q&A Session featured the four celebrity faces of Floriade for 2013. The wonderfully beardy Costa Georgiadis entertained the crowd by taking ‘selfies’ with his mobile while Virginia made her way through his introduction. Nicola Finetti – splendidly and exquisitely dressed in the exact way Costa wasn’t – spoke of the importance of florals in women’s fashion design, and that geometric patterns were very much and important part of Canberra’s design.
Julie Goodwin, Masterchef’s first master, spoke passionately of the importance of treating food as a valuable commodity. Through her role as ambassador for Oxfam, Ms Goodwin heartily endorses the work of Canberra’s local Yellow Van Food as it collects foods beyond the ‘Best By’ date to provide for the less fortunate in our community. Fans of DIY were engaged by Barry ‘Baz’ Du Bois from Channel Tens The Renovators and The Living Room, who compared DIY to our natural hunter gatherer tendencies, and the importance of providing for ourselves.
Themes of sustainability and simplicity that were expressed by the panel work perfectly with Floriade’s theme of Beautiful Innovation. Creativity doesn’t need to be complex, nature in itself provides elegant solutions. In the days of ‘food miles’ and global logistics, these themes give us pause for thought. Where better than one of the biggest and brightest gardens in the world?
Welcome to Floriade 2013.
