Dazzling displays wow record crowds
THOUSANDS of people enjoyed a record-breaking Chorley Flower Show with the borough living up to its burgeoning reputation as the Northern Flowerhouse.
Astley Park was turned into a riot of colour with everything from beautiful begonias to resplendent roses and special guest appearances from TV stars Carol Klein and Chris Beardshaw.
Almost 15,000 people packed out the park for the award-winning event, organised by Chorley Council, which is now rivalling established shows as the best in the North West.
Councillor Alistair Bradley, Leader of Chorley Council, said: “The flower show is growing in popularity each year and was a tremendous success again with people from all over the North West and beyond visiting Chorley and being impressed with what we have to offer here.
“We are developing this as a true flower show and from some of the comments we received over the weekend people now see this as a better horticultural event than the well-established Southport Flower Show and others saying that its friendly atmosphere makes it better than the RHS Tatton Flower Show – that’s some achievement in just the third year.
“Not only does this event attract people to Chorley, which boosts the local economy, there are many Chorley borough businesses taking part in the event and they all get a chance to showcase themselves to a wide audience.”
The event, which took place on 29 and 30 July, saw several new elements with the amateur section doubling in size again and Astley Hall looking amazing decorated in floral displays.
A new food area was well received and the Best in Show went to Every Picture Tells A Story, from Liverpool, which put together a display of bromeliads.
“We’d like to thank everyone that supported the event this year, not least the exhibitors and traders, but also the visitors who help create a fantastic atmosphere,” said Councillor Bradley.
“It is great to see so many people being so enthusiastic about our borough and we hope to see some of them at our next major event, which is Chorley Live on 6 and 7 October.”
For more details about the flower show and to see photos of the event visit chorleyflowershow.com.