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.

It has been running biennially since 2022 and is excited to be returning in 2026 across the two weekends of 12-13 September 2026 and 19-20 September 2026 with 11 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. In recent years, the Festival has contributed to the creation of a nature playground that has enabled further development of the school’s extensive grounds, as well as an essential upgrade of the school’s technology resources including improving the school’s sound systems and microphones.

The fundraising goal for 2026

In 2026, the Festival aims to raise funds to not only continue the P&C’s year-round efforts to keep the canteen running, provide bus subsidies for families and additional activities including the Dalmarri Art Project. This year, net proceeds from the Festival will also go towards sustaining our new Greenhouse program, establishing a Breakfast Club and acquiring wireless headphones as a teaching resource for focused learning and wellbeing programs.

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.

26 July 2026. Garden owners, sponsers, parents and students at Tundarra Garden. [Photo credit: Sudharmo Kossew]