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The Hong Kong Flower Show 2008, organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), will be held at Victoria Park from 9am to 9pm daily between tomorrow (March 14) and March 24.
The show's theme flower is the Gerbera and its theme is "Vibrant Blossoms for Beijing Olympics". More than 350,000 flowers, among which are some 60,000 pots of Gerbera of more than 100 cultivars, will transform Victoria Park into a colourful wonderland throughout the flower show.
More than 200 organisations from 21 countries will showcase exotic flowers, landscape and floral art displays. They are from the Mainland, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Estonia, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, among which Canada, New Zealand, Estonia, the United States and Russia are participating in the show for the first time.
To mark the 29th Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in August, LCSD specially presents a grand floral display "Vibrant Blossoms for Beijing Olympics" at the show. It is made with more than 30,000 flowers. The display is complemented with floral sculptures of the five Fuwa, mascots of the Beijing Olympics, and the logos for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Each Fuwa is approximately two metres tall and is created from thousands of colourful fresh Impatiens, Kalanchoes, Cigar Flowers and Pansies. Located in the centre of the floral display is a circular water curtain formed by water jets against the background of the Five Olympic Rings also made with flowers. Surrounding the area is a vast flowerbed decorated with more than 20,000 stems of Gerbera, the theme flower of the show.
Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii), also known as Gerber Daisy, African Daisy or Transvaal Daisy, is a member of the genus Gerbera of the family Asteraceae. It is cherished by flower lovers for its rich variety of colours and long flowering period.
Other key attractions of the show are: the mosaiculture display "Equestrian Joy" featuring Fuwa Huanhuan and Fu Niu (lucky bull) Lele, the respective mascots of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, and eight horses on the lawn; an exhibition on the Bejing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay; an exhibition on the hosting of the Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong 2009 East Asian Games (EAG) Mascots "Dony" and "Ami" will make their public debut at the show and say hello to visitors. They will be placed against a backdrop of a six-metre by three-metre giant flower wall made up of blossoms of Golden Dewdrops, Kalanchoes, Dusty Miller, Impatiens (New Guinea Groep) to form the pattern of the EAG emblem "Firework" and slogan "Be the Legend".
A spectacular sea of flowers formed by more than 18,000 tulips will add colour and fragrance to the showground.
The displays from the Mainland are equally attractive and spectacular. They include displays by Beijing Municipal Administration Centre of Parks, Shenzhen Urban Management Bureau and Zhongshan City Xiaolan Town People's Government.
A series of fringe activities will add fun to the 11-day flower show for the enjoyment of visitors. Activities include music and dance performances, floral art demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, green talks and fun games.
Admission tickets will be available at the entrance to the showground at Victoria Park throughout the show period. They are also available now until March 24 at LCSD's District Leisure Services Offices, and venues with Leisure Link services.
Admission for adults is $14. Children aged four to 14, students, senior citizens aged 60 or over and persons with a disability pay half price. Senior citizens and persons with a disability have free admission on weekdays (except public holidays) and adults in a group of 30 or more admitted at the same time will pay half price on weekdays (except public holidays).
For enquiries, please call 2697 8030, fax 2691 7264 or visit the LCSD website at www.lcsd.gov.hk
Ends/Thursday, March 13, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:59
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