Community Resilience Shines at Hurunui Garden Festival

The community of North Canterbury has united to ensure the success of the Hurunui Garden Festival, which began on March 14, 2024. This annual event, despite facing significant challenges from a severe storm that recently swept through the region, has attracted visitors eager to explore the local gardens.

Strong winds last week caused extensive damage, uprooting trees and leading to power outages. Jenny Cooper, a member of the Hurunui Garden Festival committee, highlighted the remarkable effort from the community that allowed the festival to proceed as planned. “It is a celebration of the beautiful area,” she stated, emphasizing the resilience displayed by residents.

Established in 2018 by local garden owners, the festival aims to showcase the area’s natural beauty and draw tourists. Among the 20 gardens featured is Cooper’s own Blue House in Amberley. The four-day festival includes a variety of attractions, such as artwork, sculptures, plants, arts and crafts for sale, and food carts.

The storm was one of the most damaging Cooper has witnessed in her twelve years in the area. Flaxmere, one of the largest gardens in Hurunui, owned by Penny Zino, experienced the worst of the weather. Cooper recounted Zino’s distress as she watched her trees, some nearly 100 years old, fall around her. “Flaxmere is a beautiful property and it’s all about the view to Mount Tekoa,” Cooper explained.

Witnessing the destruction was heartbreaking, Cooper added. “You just look at it and you think ‘how on earth do you even start cleaning this up?’ and you’ve got six days before the biggest festival of the year.” Despite the challenges, the community rallied together, with many offering their help.

“We have had so many offers of help,” Cooper said. “Everybody up this way has a chainsaw and we all have a trailer, so people just turn up with their chainsaws and their trailers and say ‘point me! What do you need doing?'” This spirit of cooperation allowed the gardens to be restored beautifully in time for the festival.

After days of hard work, the gardens were nearly unrecognizable, showcasing their beauty once again. “You’d never know we had such extensive damage; the gardens just look amazing,” Cooper remarked, although the remnants of the storm remained visible just beyond the fences.

The Hurunui Garden Festival not only celebrates the area’s horticultural achievements but also serves as a testament to the community’s strength and resilience in the face of adversity.