A BUDDING north Wales festival is set to flourish this summer.

Gardens in Gwynedd will be opening their gates from Saturday, 28 May, until Sunday, 5 June, as part of the first-ever cross-county Festival of Gardens North Wales, designed to attract green-fingered tourists to the region.

With over 20 million gardeners in Britain, the drive to bring the growing garden army to the region is being mounted by North Wales Tourism who believe the festival has huge potential.

The horticultural market is worth a staggering £5bn annually – more than UK people spend on chocolate.

Gardens taking part in the festival from Gwynedd include Plas Brondanw at Penrhyndeudraeth, Plas yn Rhiw in Pwllheli, Plas Tan y Bwlch in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Caerau Uchaf Gardens in Bala, Portmeirion in Penrhyndeudraeth, Aber Arto Hall in Llanbedr, Penrhyn Castle in Llandegai.

There will be several other gardens taking part from across North Wales.

North Wales tourism managing director, Jim Jones, said: “North Wales has some of the most stunning gardens in the UK and this event is all about bringing them together and showing them off to as many people as possible.”

More than 100 unique events are planned over the nine days of the festival at gardens taking part include musical concerts, historical re-enactments, gardening lectures, photographic workshops, art and sculpture exhibitions, children’s trails, garden inspired poetry and prose, plant sales and prize competitions.

The festival dates have been arranged to coincide with late-spring flowering displays, which will include rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias, tulips and flowering cherries, making this one of the best times of the year to visit the great gardens of north Wales.

Mr Jones added: “North Wales has some of the most stunning gardens in the whole of the UK, run by a diverse range of organisations including the National Trust and a variety of private owners, with whom we have been collaborating closely to organise this very special event.

“Our aim with the festival, which will be the largest and a most ambitious of its kind ever seen in the region, is to bring them all together under the banner of north Wales.

“The festival has been extensively marketed and we expect to attract thousands of visitors not just from around the gardens but also from a much wider area including other parts of Wales as well as the north West and midlands of England.

“We have an exciting, fascinating and entertaining programme of events and activities lined up, which means that every morning, afternoon and evening there will be at least one special event happening in one or more of the gardens.”