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‘Australis 2020’ International Garden Festival One Step Closer

Announcement posted by ACS Distance Education 05 Oct 2017

‘Australis 2020’ International Garden Festival One Step Closer

For Immediate Release                                     Thursday 5th October 2017

In an exciting development for Australian Garden Tourism, Australis 2020 is one step closer. The Association of International Horticulture Producers (AIPH) executive, following their 69th Annual Congress in Taipei, Taiwan, met with Australian Federal and State Government MP’s, Australis 2020 and Australian Garden Council representatives for a tour of iconic Sydney gardens and landscapes. The Australis 2020 exhibition was given full AIPH approval in Taipei.

Australis 2020 is a 6-month garden exhibition to be conducted in 2020 and Sydney is the preferred location (once Government has approved the site). Steven Haggart, MD and Founder of Australis 2020, and Graham Ross, Chair of the Australian Garden Council, and Robert Reynolds, AGC Director, hosted the AIPH executive on Monday 2nd October to showcase some of Sydney’s most outstanding gardens.

Following a tour of Sydney, Royal Botanic Gardens’ Calyx project and the multi-award winning Barangaroo Headland Reserve on Sydney Harbour, the delegates then enjoyed historic Bronte House, and stopped at Vaucluse House where they were joined by the Australian Prime Minister, Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP. The PM met these key players who are organising this planned garden, environment and sustainability expo. Mr Turnbull expressed a keenness to be kept abreast of developments with both the AGC and Australis.

The Australis 2020 exhibition is a great opportunity for Sydney and Australia’s wholesale nursery, landscape and garden tourism industry, as similar exhibitions in Asia and Europe attract tens of millions of visitors. For more than 6 decades, international garden festivals have been held across the Northern Hemisphere, attracting visitor numbers greater than the Olympics. These are the world’s biggest horticultural projects, but there has never been one held in the Southern Hemisphere.

The AIPH is the peak international body that approves and supports these events and approval was for Australis 2020 to be held in Sydney from September 2020 until March 2021.

To keep abreast with Australis 2020 developments, visit the website australis2020.com or contact Steven Haggart, Founder and Managing Director of  Australis  stevenh@australis2020.com or John Mason, Australian Garden Council Board Member agc@acs.edu.au .