Best of Toowoomba
Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers: Australia's Largest Floral Festival
The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers, held each September, is Australia's largest floral festival and the defining event on Toowoomba's annual calendar. The festival runs for approximately three weeks and centres on the public and private gardens of the city, which bloom with spring colour at altitude after the winter. The Grand Central Floral Parade through the CBD is the centrepiece, drawing large crowds for the decorated floats and marching bands. Queens Park Garden in the city's east is the festival's horticultural heart, with hundreds of rose varieties in full bloom. The festival also includes food, wine and cultural events alongside the garden tours and installations. Accommodation in Toowoomba books well in advance for the carnival period; planning early is essential.
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Carnival of Flowers (September)
Australia's longest-running floral festival, held annually in September when Toowoomba's parks and gardens burst into spring bloom, the city's biggest event of the year.
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Queens Park and Botanic Gardens
The centrepiece of the Carnival of Flowers, with formal gardens, a Japanese garden and thousands of rose and annual flower plantings at their September peak.
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Floral Parade
The Carnival of Flowers street parade through the CBD features floats decorated with fresh flowers, a tradition since 1949 and the event's signature spectacle.
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Garden Competition
A citywide garden competition judged during the festival period, with private gardens open to the public and a map of the best residential gardens to visit.
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Laurel Bank Park
A formal public garden in Toowoomba's north, spectacular during the Carnival of Flowers with massed plantings of pansies, petunias and roses.
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