"Stanford in Bloom" brings the Gold from the Chelsea Flower Show to our Doorstep

Chelsea Flowers in Stanford (10-24 September)

For two glorious weeks, the Stanford in Bloom festival hosts a full recreation of South Africa's 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show gold-medal display-brought home and rebuilt for everyone to experience. Created by landscape designer Leon Kluge with artist-gardener Tristan Woudberg, the installation celebrates the Cape Floral Kingdom with sweeping walls of fynbos divided by a canyon of amber, tea-coloured water-echoing our mountain streams and the meeting of two oceans.

What to know

• Dates & times: 10-24 September 2025, 09:00-17:00 (admit any time in that window).
• Tickets: R200 day pass via Webtickets or in-store at Pick n Pay. All profits support the Grootbos Foundation.
• Where: Queen Victoria Street, Stanford.
• Extras: A curated selection of Grootbos Florilegium botanical artworks will be shown alongside the floral build.

Stanford in Bloom layers the showpiece with talks, workshops, open gardens, a bustling two-week village green market, live music and more-making it the perfect spring day out from Hermanus.

Swallow Park, Hermanus

Just steps from the Old Harbour and the Cliff Path, Swallow Park is being readied for a thoughtful upgrade that reconnects the park to its heritage-and to the sea views people love.

The condemned wooden bridge on the Cliff Path between the Windsor Hotel and Swallow Park is set to be replaced.  Rotary Hermanus has pledged funding for a new viewing platform, adding a perfect whale-watching perch on the park's edge.

Early concept notes point to a refreshed public space with indigenous fynbos planting, improved pathways, small event/exhibition areas, seating, and enhanced safety and sightlines-reimagining Swallow Park as a vibrant cultural and nature-linked pocket between Gearing's Point and Fick's Pool. Final designs are being developed with the community.

A century of local affection sits behind this little park-named for beloved teacher Magda "Swallow" Neethling-and the upgrade aims to honour that story while making the space more welcoming for everyday picnics, pop-up art, and spring strolls.

Make it a Spring Escape

Start your morning on the Hermanus Cliff Path, watch for southern rights in the bay, then amble into town for coffee and galleries. Cap it off with a short, scenic drive to Stanford to step inside South Africa's award-winning Chelsea recreation-right here at home. Book your tickets, bring your camera, and come celebrate spring in full fynbos colour.

Sources: official event sites and local municipal/community updates. (Webtickets, Grootbos Foundation, The Gardener, Facebook, Facebook, FlipHTML5, Instagram)