28 May 2009
For immediate release

Dunedin Rhododendron Festival sets 2009 Dates

The Dunedin Rhododendron Festival will be celebrating its 26th Anniversary when it takes place from 18 to 26 October 2009.

The festival will take place slightly earlier this year to ensure it captures the most impressive flowering season of the city’s rhododendrons. It will also be of a longer format to include Labour Weekend. This new form will enable more events to take place during the festival and will also minimize clashes between events.

Festival Co-ordinator Victoria Bunton, from Sequel Events, states that “I am excited to be working on this new format for the festival. It will enable new events to be part of the week to ensure the festival remains fresh and vibrant. A number of new events will be revealed for 2009 when the programme is launched in July.”

There will be over 30 events taking place during the festival and the full festival programme will be available in printed format in July.

BACKGROUND
The Dunedin Rhododendron Festival has a well established history as a favourite community event. In 1984 a week long celebration focused on the Botanic Gardens' Rhododendron Dell, which is acknowledged as one of the world's most significant plantings of rhododendrons. Today the Dell covers 15 acres of land where there are over 3500 rhododendrons comprised of 178 species and over 200 named hybrids.

The Dunedin Rhododendron Festival is now a weeklong celebration that encourages residents and visitors to the city to experience and enjoy Dunedin’s rhododendrons and gardens. This is achieved by creating a well-balanced programme of events relating to rhododendrons, gardening and associated leisure activities.

ENDS

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