September · Queensland · Toowoomba
Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers
Queensland's longest-running annual festival, transforming the Garden City into a sea of spring flowers across ten days each September.
Toowoomba's annual Carnival of Flowers has run continuously since 1950 and is Australia's longest-running annual festival of its kind, with city parks planted with hundreds of thousands of spring flowers and dozens of private gardens opened to the public.
The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers has run continuously since 1950 and is the longest-running annual festival of its kind in Australia. It takes place across ten days every September in Toowoomba, the Garden City of the Darling Downs, 130 kilometres west of Brisbane and 700 metres above sea level. The cool elevation and rich volcanic soils make Toowoomba one of the best gardening regions in Queensland, and spring on the range is genuinely spectacular.
For the carnival, the city's public parks are planted with around 250,000 annual and bulb flowers. Queens Park, Laurel Bank Park and the Japanese Gardens at the University of Southern Queensland are the standout displays. More than 50 private gardens open to the public during the festival under the Chronicle Garden Competition, which has run since 1950 and is one of the oldest open-garden programmes in the country.
The Grand Central Floral Parade on the second Saturday of the carnival is the centrepiece event, featuring elaborate flower-decorated floats winding through the city centre. Other festival events include garden tours, food and wine programmes at the local wineries on the Granite Belt to the south, the Carnival Concert at Picnic Point overlooking the escarpment, and the Floral Fashion Awards.
Early September is shoulder season in Queensland with mild days, cool evenings and almost no rain. Toowoomba accommodation fills up well in advance, and most visitors book six to eight weeks ahead for the carnival weekend.
While you are there
