RHS Malvern Spring Festival, a pioneering four-day horticultural extravaganza, will kick-start the RHS Floral Show season for 2025 when it returns to Three Counties Showground, Malvern from 8 – 11 May 2025, with a packed programme that includes a host of exciting new features and well-known special guests. 

The theme for this year's RHS Malvern Spring Festival is 'Plants & People', encouraging visitors to explore the numerous ways in which plants impact our lives – from the positive impact they have on our physical and mental wellbeing, to improving the air we breathe and providing food for us to eat. This year's festival will delve into the intrinsic connection between plants and people via insightful talks from horticultural experts, covering topics such as gardening for wellness, how to make plant care more accessible and sustainable, ways to incorporate plants into your life, cultivation to consumption and plot to plate. This year's RHS Malvern Spring Festival theme celebrates the notion that tending to plants is as much about nurturing ourselves and our communities as it is about caring for our planet, celebrating a renewed appreciation for the power of nature and its positive impact in our lives.

RHS Malvern Spring Festival has a long-standing reputation as the trailblazer of the RHS Floral Show season, leading the way in the latest gardening developments. An exciting and innovative new feature of the 2025 festival is the introduction of the first RHS judged Indoor Plant Gardens, never before seen at Malvern. The pioneering Indoor Plant Gardens will showcase creative ways of using indoor plants and the impact they can have on our daily lives. The gardens will also demonstrate how versatile and easily accessible indoor plants are, and how they're an enjoyable and convenient way to engage in horticulture year-round, regardless of whether or not you have outdoor space, and without being subject to the ever-growing challenges posed by the climate. The new Indoor Plant Gardens – located in the Festival of Houseplants area - will be scrutinised by a panel of horticultural experts and RHS judges to crown the very first RHS medal-winning Indoor Plant Garden 2025.

The brand-new Give it a Grow theatre will debut at this year's RHS Malvern Spring Festival, offering practical advice, inspirational talks and expert tips on plant growing. This vibrant new stage will host engaging talks to enhance gardening knowledge for both seasoned gardeners and those dipping their toe into the soil for the first time. From perfecting propagation techniques to creating serene rain gardens and ponds, how to design natural screens for garden privacy to improving soil health with the use of vital microbes – this bustling area will act as an educational hub, inspiring visitors to grow more, grow smarter and grow better.

Another new feature at this year's RHS Malvern Spring Festival is the introduction of a special 'Dog Day' on Sunday 11 May 2025. Well-behaved dogs on short, fixed leads are welcome to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the festival with their owners. A limited number of dog tickets are available to book online in advance via https://rhsmalvern.co.uk/

This year's Festival Theatre will once again host a packed programme of lively talks, interactive demonstrations and expert advice from some of the most respected names in horticulture. This year's theatre host is TV presenter, broadcaster and former music publicist, Nicki Chapman. As well as hosting the iconic evening radio show, Mellow Magic, Nicki is well-known for co-hosting BBC's Escape to the Country and RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Nicki will be joined on the Festival Theatre stage across the four days by some of horticultures most well-known and much-loved personalities, including one of the UK's favourite gardeners, Alan Titchmarsh CBE, who, as well as being a passionate gardener, is a successful writer and TV presenter, best-known for featuring in BBC's Ground Force, BBC's Gardeners' World and ITV's Love Your Garden. On Friday 9 May, Alan will join Nicki on stage to share insight into what being a 'good gardener' means to him.

Alan Titchmarsh CBE commented, “I love the RHS Malvern Spring Festival! It has all the things a gardener like me values in a day out - a great setting at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a tremendous range of exhibitors and specialist growers offering a wide range of plants and a wonderfully friendly atmosphere. It remains a firm favourite in my calendar.”

From Thursday through to Sunday, Nicki will welcome BBC's Gardeners' World presenters, broadcasters and writers, Rachel de Thame, Adam Frost and Frances Tophill to the stage. On Saturday and Sunday, Frances will share tips and advice on how to design your outdoor space to work for you, and Adam will chat about gardening for wellbeing and how plants can help to cultivate positivity.

The Kitchen Garden Theatre will make a sizzling return to RHS Malvern Spring Festival this year, offering visitors the chance to relax within an immersive kitchen garden while enjoying live cooking demos from talented chefs and excellent local food producers. Hosting the Kitchen Garden Theatre this year will be RHS Malvern Spring Festival regular and award-winning food and gardening writer, Mark Diacono. Culinary icon, Raymond Blanc OBE, will take to the stage on Thursday 8 May sharing fascinating insights from his decades of experience in food and hospitality, and how he's crafted a legacy of culinary excellence throughout his career. Raymond is renowned for his exceptional talent, innovation and unwavering dedication to the art of French cuisine, and his restaurant, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, has retained two Michelin stars for 41 years consecutively, and in 2020 received a Michelin Green Star in recognition of its sustainable practices. From Friday to Sunday the hugely talented, self-taught chef and regular face on ITV's This Morning, Marcus Bean will share tasty tips on celebrating the season through food.

A host of new VIP experiences have been unveiled for this year's RHS Malvern Spring Festival, including an exclusive preview of the Floral Marquee with horticultural expert Jon Wheatley, followed by breakfast (£112 per person), an early-access Exclusive Show Garden Tour ahead of public viewing, followed by breakfast (£112 per person) and a special cream tea with BBC Gardeners' World presenters Rachel de Thame (Friday 9th May) or Adam Frost (Saturday 10th May, both £134 per person). Further details and advance booking can be found here: https://rhsmalvern.co.uk/whats-on/2025-vip-packages/

All this plus the crowning of the very first RHS-medal-winning outdoor show gardens of the year and a whole host of shopping opportunities, food and drink, and family friendly activities to enjoy.

The 'Taster Ticket' will return for 2025, offering visitors the chance to experience the festival from 2pm onwards on Saturday 10th May for just £16, and is ideal for those who would like to visit the show for the first time, families that want to enjoy a fun afternoon out, or anyone looking to do some dedicated plant shopping to liven up their own indoor or outdoor spaces.

Tickets for the RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2025 start from just £16 (with under 16s free of charge) and can be bought now from https://www.rhsmalvern.co.uk/

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Notes to editors

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High resolution images are available to download here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iX5ISRxbHDJ7w3oMBZiDea-7WMcaYjWg?usp=sharing

About RHS Malvern Spring Festival

RHS Malvern Spring Festival takes place on 8 - 11 May 2025 and is the premier gardening and food event in the West Midlands and Central England. Visitors can enjoy special guests sharing their gardening know-how, impressive show gardens – both indoor and outdoor - specialist nurseries and growers, artisan food producers, live entertainment and the very best of lifestyle, garden and homeware shopping. For more information or to book tickets, visit www.rhsmalvern.co.uk