Garden Town Stellenbosch festival: A celebration of nature and horticulture

Garden Town Stellenbosch event is returning from tomorrow Friday, October 31, until Sunday, November 9, featuring botanical displays, talks, markets, trail runs, and garden tours. 

The annual garden and nature-themed occasion celebrates Stellenbosch's horticultural heritage through a variety of activities.

At the heart of the event is the Garden Show and Market at the Town Hall — a hub where growers, designers, and makers come together with plants, tools, décor, and demonstrations under one roof.

This event will run throughout the festival, and entrance to the show is free.

The organiser said in the hall, there will be inspirational installations created by garden designer Cobus Smit and award-winning garden designers from the South African Landscapers Institute (SALI). 

This year, four of the display gardens are centered around the theme of Rewilding. Rewilding food, Rewilding forests, Rewilding fynbos and renosterveld, and Rewilding your garden.

The programme includes opportunities to explore private home gardens on Friday, October 31, and Saturday, November 1, and again on Friday, November 7, and Saturday, November 8, with public gardens on show throughout the celebration.

The Bottelary Hills Renosterveld Conservancy (BHRC) non-profit will also launch a 4x4 wine adventure at the Bottelary Hills. 

"This guided off-road adventure is a new offering on the menu and the ideal way to explore - sit back, relax, and soak in nature.   This unique experience will take you on a wine journey across three family-owned wine farms steeped in history in the Bottelary Hills Renosterveld Conservancy. The off-road trail will take you through critically endangered Renosterveld fynbos and vineyards," said BHRC manager Christel Liebenberg.

There will also be a garden market with a full collection of garden-inspired creations, as well as books for sale from garden authors.

The full programme is available here. For more information, contact the organiser at info@visitstellenbosch.org or, about the 4x4 wine adventure, contact Ms Liebenberg at christel@bottelaryconservancy.co.za.