As summer ends, it’s a time to look towards harvests, autumn hues and new ideas for the growing seasons ahead – and garden festivals celebrating this fruitful time of year offer plenty of ideas.
If you are keen to immerse yourself in fruit and vegetable growing, wallow in rich and colourful autumn plants and find out much more about gardening practices, take a trip to some of these inspirational events.
1. Malvern Autumn Show, Three Counties Showground, Worcester (Sep 25-27)
Anyone who wants a peek at giant vegetables should not miss this show which most famously features the annual CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championship, which each year sees new Guinness World Records set for outstandingly large crops.
This year’s packed programme features a host of well-known special guests from the worlds of television, horticulture and baking, including Gardeners’ World’s Monty Don and Joanna Page from Gavin & Stacey fame.
There’s the return of The Great Malvern Cake Off tent, featuring a sensational selection of food and drink, cake-making demonstrations and special guests including some familiar faces from the Great British Bake Off TV series.
New activities area The Fun Farm is making its debut this year, with countryside-themed challenges for youngsters including hoop horse, foam sheep shearing and cow pat toss, as well as the chance to meet a range of farmyard animals.
2. RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Harrogate, North Yorkshire (Sep 5 and 6)
Throughout September and October, RHS Gardens will celebrate the season’s harvest with RHS Flavours of Autumn – a programme of tastings, cookery demonstrations, guided walks and expert advice focused on growing, harvesting and enjoying homegrown produce.
At RHS Garden Harlow Carr, visitors can celebrate the best of the harvest with a weekend of food, gardening and seasonal inspiration. Enjoy live cookery demonstrations from leading chefs, edible garden tours, specialist talks, food markets and expert advice on growing your own produce.
Visitors can also take part in floristry and family cookery workshops, discover tips for autumn gardening in the Potting Shed talks, and enjoy live music throughout the weekend.
3. RHS Garden Bridgewater, Salford, Greater Manchester (Sep 12 and 13)
Celebrate the rich bounty of the season with an inspiring Flavours of Autumn programme of garden tours, engaging talks and live cooking demonstrations. Discover seasonal flavours and expert insights from renowned chefs and growers, including Simone Bratt-Low, Jack Wallington and The Life Larder, among others. Explore the Kitchen Garden, where the produce is grown, and the Wellbeing Garden, where the cookery demos will take place.
4. BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair, Audley End House & Gardens, Saffron Walden, Essex (Sep 11-13)
The spectacular 17th-century mansion provides an impressive backdrop to this cornucopia of autumn colours, from three impressive showcase gardens to an inspiring ‘Make A Metre Matter’ border featuring winter-growing salad, compost zones and encouragement to support wildlife and biodiversity.
Gardeners with small spaces should get ideas from this year’s collection of Beautiful Borders, while the world-renowned Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens will be hosting drop-in seedling planting sessions and there’s edible border displays and a new houseplant area.
At the In Conversation Stage, a raft of well-known gardening personalities including Adam Frost and Frances Tophill will be discussing all things horticultural and there are also food and drink-themed attractions.
5. Emmetts Garden Autumn Festival, Kent (Oct 9-Nov 1)
Award-winning garden designer and broadcaster Adam Frost will headline this National Trust garden’s biggest ever autumn festival, with the month-long celebration featuring a weekend of talks, a makers market, live music, photography workshops, Halloween craft workshops, a guided walk, a family activity trail and half term children’s fairground rides.
Frost will be joined by horticulturist, author and presenter Frances Tophill, as well as garden designer and presenter Danny Clarke, along with an engaging programme of speakers exploring folklore, astronomy, medicinal mushrooms, psychoactive fungi, plant conservation and nature-based wellness.
The hillside layout creates a framework for its collection of specimen trees and shrubs, alpine rockery, Italianate rose garden, wildflower meadow, surrounding woodland and panoramic views over the Weald of Kent.
6. Worthy Earth Festival, Dummer Down Farm, Hampshire (Sep 18-20)
Three days of community revelry, garden-to-table feasts and some renowned guest speakers talking about fermentation, sustainable food systems, British-grown food and gut health, combine to form this three-day harvest festival celebrating local food, folk and dance music.
7. Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival, Twickenham (Sep 10-13)
For four days, more than 30 floral designers will fill this house and gardens with magical installations at this historic landmark, using only British-grown flowers and sustainable techniques.
Co-curated by Flowers on the Edge and Flowers at the House, this landmark exhibition will see the 15 florist duos take over the Gothic Revival rooms of writer and historian Horace Walpole’s villa, creating large-scale installations that respond to the architecture of the house and the fleeting beauty of the late-summer harvest.
Over the four days, events include Strawberry Hill After Dark, in which visitors explore the villa transformed by immersive floral installations and dramatic lighting, Flower Festival Picnics and free talks and demonstrations.
8. Harrogate Autumn Flower Show, Newby Hall & Gardens, North Yorkshire (Sep 18-20)
Walk around this historic site’s beautiful award-winning gardens, admire beautiful floral displays from specialist nurseries across the UK in the Grand Floral Pavilion and find inspiration from the best of the season’s produce from the garden’s allotment. There will also be live talks and demonstrations, great garden shopping and stunning floral art installations within Newby Hall. And don’t miss this year’s giant veg competition.
9. Scottish Autumn Show and Plant Fair, Howden Park Centre, West Lothian (Sep 26)
This highly anticipated autumn event, hosted by the Scottish Rock Garden Club, is not only a traditional competitive show, but also features a great variety of nurseries and impressive displays and information stands from gardening clubs and societies. It also offers a series of engaging talks, which will cater for all, from passionate alpine gardeners to beginners who want to be inspired.
10. Belfast Autumn Fair, Botanic Gardens, Northern Ireland (Sep 12 and 13)
This annual free event showcases fabulous flowers and floral displays, as well as displays of giant seasonal vegetables, arts and craft stall selling local products, cookery demonstrations, willow craft workshops and planting activities.
Organised by Belfast City Council, there will be free guided tours of the Botanic Gardens, the Palm House and Tropical Ravine, as part of its European Heritage Open Days events.
This year also marks the 40th anniversary exhibition of the Northern Ireland Bonsai Society, with bonsai advice and demonstrations.
11. Europom 2026, RHS Garden Rosemoor, Devon (Oct 3 and 4)
Fruit-growing enthusiasts and horticultural experts will come together at RHS Garden Rosemoor for Europom, an international celebration of heritage fruit varieties and orchard conservation. Visitors can explore specialist displays, meet growers from across the UK and Europe, and enjoy expert talks highlighting the importance of preserving traditional fruit varieties among Rosemoor’s own orchards and fruit collections.
