Our story
It begins with an earthquake….
The Hurunui Garden Festival was launched early in 2018 by a group of local garden owners who wanted to assist with the Hurunui District’s recovery from the devastating earthquake of November 2016.
We wanted to open gardens and invite visitors, particularly from outside the district, to spend a weekend enjoying our gardens, our wineries, our fabulous eateries, shops, adventure attractions and everything else about the Hurunui District.
We also desperately wanted to create opportunities and benefits for businesses and residents across the district, and to help repair the terrible scars from that earthquake.
Since then, the festival has become, not just a celebration of inspirational gardens, but of the unique, little known, Hurunui region.
It is all out there for you to discover.
One of the special things about our festival is that we are a self-drive festival, leaving you free to plan your adventure in any way you want, including wineries, cafes, bike trails, mountain walks. Begin planning your Hurunui adventure today!
Hurunui Garden Festival Scholarship
We are committed to investing back into the community.
Each year we give at least one student who resides in the Hurunui district, a scholarship up to the value of $2000.
This is to go towards study in horticulture, agriculture, landscape design or similar at their choice of University or Institute of Technology.
2025 Recipient of the Hurunui Garden Festival Inc. Scholarship
We are thrilled to announce the recipient of the 2025 Scholarship is Mark Privaldos.
Mark is a former Amuri Area School pupil and is heading to Wellington in 2026 to study architecture .
Mark Privaldos, aged 18 in 2025 and who lives in Hanmer Springs, was born in the Philippines, but came to New Zealand in 2016, aged eight.
Mark is planning to study for his Bachelor of Architectural Studies degree at the Victoria University of Wellington and then stay on for his master's degree.
Read the North Canterbury News Article about Mark here. Article by Shelley Topp
Congratulations Mark and good luck for your studies this year!
Our Mission Statement:
To develop an annual garden festival, run during the first weekend in November, consisting of clusters of open gardens around the Hurunui District, together with garden-based events.
To raise awareness of the festival and the participating gardens through targeted marketing, so that the festival becomes a ‘must-see’ annual event.
To work collaboratively with Hurunui tourism operators, accommodation and hospitality providers, to encourage people from outside the district to spend the weekend enjoying our gardens and generous hospitality.
To become financially sustainable and bring economic benefits to the Hurunui District.
To constantly improve our festival, so that it becomes the district’s premier event, and one of New Zealand’s most popular garden festivals.