NORFOLK, England — After a spring dominated by cherry blossoms in Taipei, tulips in the Netherlands and grand showcases in Philadelphia and London, the second half of 2026 delivers a looser, more varied lineup: royal debuts, harvest festivals, giant vegetables and floats built entirely from dahlias. From the RHS’s first-ever show on a royal estate in Norfolk to Colombia’s ten-day flower festival and the world’s largest flower parade in the Netherlands, here is what remains on the global flower calendar and what each event offers.
RHS Sandringham Flower Show: A Royal Debut
The biggest structural shift in British horticulture in years takes full effect this July. The Royal Horticultural Society, after announcing in 2024 that it would reduce the frequency of its Hampton Court and Tatton Park shows, launched a touring model with new venues. Following a successful debut at Badminton Estate in Gloucestershire earlier this month, the RHS opens its gates at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk from July 22 to 26.
Sandringham is the private country retreat of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. The show’s centerpiece, the RHS Royal Legacy Garden, was designed by Catherine MacDonald of Landform Consultants in direct consultation with the monarch. Early previews describe a garden built around natural fractals and branching patterns, with winding paths through a biodiverse mix of trees and perennials, incorporating many of the King’s favorite species and a bold personal color scheme. The garden is paired with Long Borders mentored by Chelsea veteran Tom Hoblyn and a series of Show Gardens celebrating Norfolk’s landscapes.
Beyond the headline garden, the show features a Floral Marquee with more than 50 specialist growers, a Flower School, a Summer Fruit and Vegetable Competition for junior growers, and a “Leaf Letters” activity where children write messages to the royal couple on hand-chosen leaves. The earlier Badminton show, held July 8–12, included Jo Thompson’s Archers 75th Anniversary Garden — a scene-for-scene recreation of the fictional Bridge Farm from BBC Radio 4’s long-running rural drama — and Tom Stuart-Smith’s Julia Rausing Garden, at 2,400 square meters reportedly the largest show garden the RHS has ever staged.
Feria de las Flores: Medellín’s Ten-Day Celebration
As Sandringham concludes, Colombia’s biggest annual flower festival begins. The Feria de las Flores in Medellín runs its 69th edition from July 31 through August 9, featuring concerts, classic car parades, farmers’ markets and Antioquian folk music across more than 30 locations and over 100 public events.
The festival builds toward its closing set piece: the Desfile de Silleteros on the final Sunday. Flower farmers from the mountain community of Santa Elena carry elaborate floral arrangements called silletas strapped to their backs — some standing over three meters tall and weighing up to 80 kilograms. This year’s parade will include more than 500 silleteros of all ages, with dedicated categories for children and participants with disabilities, walking a 2.4-kilometer route to Plaza Mayor, where the floral monuments remain on display for days. It is the largest hand-carried floral craft showcase in the world, rooted in the region’s flower-growing economy.
Southport Flower Show: UK’s Largest Independent Show
Back in England, late August belongs to Southport Flower Show, the UK’s largest independent show, running since 1924 at Victoria Park. Unlike RHS events, there are no members-only preview days — the show opens to everyone across all four days, drawing more than 55,000 visitors.
The late-August timing is deliberate: perennials and annuals are at their seasonal peak, making the Grand Floral Marquee especially vibrant. New for 2026 is “The Lakeside Reset,” a redesigned water-feature area offering a calmer counterpoint. Competitive classes — cut flowers, pot plants, specialist exhibits — are judged by midday each day, with ribbons displayed immediately. The Garden Theatre lineup opens with broadcaster and horticulturist Adam Frost.
Bloemencorso Zundert: World’s Largest Flower Parade
On the first weekend of September, the small Dutch town of Zundert hosts Bloemencorso Zundert, a parade built entirely around the dahlia. Twenty neighborhood teams spend the year cultivating dahlia fields — roughly eight million blooms are used, six million grown locally. In the final “Stick Week” before the parade, volunteers attach flowers by hand onto enormous steel-and-papier-mâché floats that can reach 19 meters long and 9 meters high.
The floats parade Sunday afternoon, judged by an independent jury, with a public exhibition day Monday allowing close inspection. From a distance, the most accomplished floats appear painted — the surface is entirely living dahlias. Founded in 1936 and recognized on the Netherlands’ national inventory of intangible cultural heritage, it remains the world’s largest flower parade, run entirely by volunteers.
Malvern Autumn Show: Harvest Celebration
Closing the season, the Malvern Autumn Show returns to Three Counties Showground in Worcestershire from September 25 to 27, positioning itself as a full harvest festival. Alongside RHS floral displays and more than 100 “Grow to Show” competitive classes for cut flowers, succulents, fruit and vegetables, the show’s best-known fixture is the CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championship, where growers chase Guinness World Records with marrows, giant green beans, super-sized sunflowers and enormous pumpkins.
Worth Watching
Regional chrysanthemum and dahlia society shows run through October and into November across the UK, including Bishop Auckland’s Late Chrysanthemum Show in early November. As with all outdoor events, weather remains a factor. Given 2026’s volatile conditions — a wet, record-warm June following a deluge-heavy January — late-summer and autumn show reports may include as much discussion of irrigation and heat-stressed bedding plants as of the blooms themselves.