It’s about time. Edinburgh, Brighton, even Henley .. all the others self-respecting festivals have one. Finally, Chelsea gets a fringe too.
Three weeks of displays, talks and happenings include an edible high road in Forest Hill, a gnome invasion of Islington, and a ‘make a miniature garden’ challenge in Mudchute.
As the main event becomes more polished and professional – the judges found it hard to pick fault with the majority of the show gardens this year despite raising their quality bar for gold medals – it’s great that an outlet for the amateur, the odd and the frankly slightly ramshackle has been created for the rest of us.
I also like the fact that fringe events are popping up all over London like unruly seedlings breaking free of Chelsea’s manicured border… as well as in Bristol, Brighton, Kent and – oddly – Vienna. The fringe’s creator, garden writer Tim Richardson has long harboured a desire to see an alternative event; “The idea is that anything goes, as long as it’s interesting and legal – and connected with gardening, gardens, plants or landscape.”
As this is only its second year, some of the events are a little odd or unformed; the Battersea Power Station day could have done with.. more. But hey, that’s a bit like gardening. You never know quite what to expect.
Here are the links for events happening this week (27th May – 2nd June) and the final week (3rd-9th June).
