A garden festival for the community…

The Mid-Mountains Garden Festival has been an annual Spring celebration of beautiful gardens in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney since 1984.

The Festival raises much-needed funds for the students at Hazelbrook Public School, bringing the school, broader community and like-minded gardening enthusiasts together.

After a stellar year in 2022, the decision was made by Hazelbrook Public School’s P&C Association to run the Festival biennially to ensure its continued success.

It returned in 2024 over two weekends of 14-15 and 21-22 September 2024, with nine open gardens.

The Festival raises much-needed funds for the students at Hazelbrook Public School, bringing the school, broader community and like-minded gardening enthusiasts together.

Its fundraising efforts have made a number of P&C Committee initiatives possible. They include the school’s main playground Bunmarra, the multi-purpose sports courts, the ‘Sharing Knowledge’ circle and garden that connects students to our Indigenous history, as well as classroom environment improvements like air conditioning and block-out blinds.

Last Festival, all the funds raised went towards a nature playground that enabled further development of the school’s extensive grounds.

In 2024, net proceeds from every ticket purchased went towards an essential upgrade of the school’s technology resources.

Hazelbrook Public School is eternally grateful to each and every garden owner – past and present – for their generosity of spirit in sharing their gardens to support the school community.

History of the Festival

It started with a gardener and a parent…

In 1984, a gardener with a lovely garden in Hazelbrook approached a parent who was President of the P&C (Parents & Citizens) Association of Hazelbrook Public School with an idea. Mrs Ruth Taylor wanted her garden “Maple Lodge” to be open to the public to raise funds for Hazelbrook Public School. The parent was Lindsay Alexander McLeod who also happened to be passionate about his local community and committed to promoting and building the local school in every way possible. He was a driving force in countless P&C fundraising events. All his children attended Hazelbrook Public School as did four of his grandchildren.

Not long after Ruth made her offer, more enquiries were made to gauge interest and they found five other local garden owners who were also happy to contribute. It was the culmination of Ruth and her husband Allan’s initial generosity and Lindsay’s efforts that these gardens formed the first Mid-Mountains Garden Festival.

The Festival just broke even in its first year but now it is one of the most profitable events of the school calendar and continues to be run by the P&C Committee, a group of parent volunteers.