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ANDREW BATCHELOR: We can’t let the Dundee Flower and Food Festival wither and die

There's been no Dundee Flower and Food Festival since the pandemic and now its future is under threat: that would be a real loss for the city.

two women next to a colourful display of gladioli.
Visitors at the last Dundee Flower and Food Festival in Camperdown Park in 2019. Image: Kris Miller/DC Thomson.

The Dundee Flower and Food Festival has been one of the city’s best loved gatherings for the past few decades.

And yet it’s possible it might be the latest cultural attraction in Scotland to face the axe.

It’s been reported that the festival, which has been cancelled for the last three years, is under threat.

Dundee City Council bosses want to phase it out after the last event – held before the Covid pandemic in 2019 – ran at a loss of £50,000.

It’s a heartbreaking prospect – to me and the great many Dundonians and others from across Scotland and the UK who have enjoyed attending the festival in years gone by.

The writer Andrew Batchelor next to a quote: "a reinvigorated Dundee Flower and Food Festival could even be built up into Scotland's answer to the Chelsea Flower Show."

I remember going with my family to root for my brother when he was taking part in a competition.

We were both still in primary school but the memories are as warm today.

And while I don’t doubt that Covid and its aftermath have made things difficult for the Flower and Food Festival organisers, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from the pandemic it’s that Dundee can come back stronger.

And so can the Dundee Flower and Food Festival.

Dundee Flower and Food Festival can come back stronger

I have mixed feelings about suggestions that the event might be replaced by a similar gathering at the waterfront in 2024.

I can see how organisers might want to test the waters elsewhere after three years of cancellations at the Camperdown setting.

older man next to a colourful display of dahlias.
Dundee Flower and Food Festival has long celebrated the city’s gardening greats. Image: Kris Miller/DC Thomson.

But I’d rather any event was seen as a reboot, rather than a replacement.

And maybe, if a waterfront celebration succeeded in bringing in a new audience, the festival could return to Camperdown in the years that follow.

This could be a brilliant opportunity for the Dundee Flower and Food Festival to reinvent itself, and isn’t that what Dundonians do best?

New events could put Dundee on the map

It’s a chance to introduce new events which celebrate the city’s connections with flower and food.

We could bring in more gardening elements into the festival and hold a brand-new design show and encourage everyone to get involved.

a group of nursery aged children in wellies waving happily next to a model forest
Children from Menzieshill Nursery at Dundee Flower and Food festival in 2019. Image: Kris Miller/DC Thomson.

We could integrate technology into the festival – look to the future of food and flowers and explore the impact of climate change.

Dundee is undergoing a green revolution, from the Eden Project’s work across the city to efforts to encourage electric vehicles and renewable energy, and there could be brilliant opportunities to promote this for the festival.

If we play our cards right, a reinvigorated Dundee Flower and Food Festival could even be built up into Scotland’s answer to the Chelsea Flower Show.

It’s already an event that is special to the city.

It’s been a staple of our cultural calendar for decades. And allowing something so central to Dundee’s identity to wither away would be a real shame.

We can’t allow this to happen.

Conversation