Take a selfie of you and your favourite flowers to be in the running for tickets to Canberra's NightFest and accommodation in the capital.

Over one million flowers are set to bloom in Canberra this spring, as Floriade, Australia’s premier celebration of spring, returns for 2016 from September 17 to October 16.

Floriade’s NightFest illuminates the park from September 28 to October 2. The after-dark extravaganza features spectacular lighting designs, music, entertainment, and comedy acts.

Win NightFest tickets for four people as well as accommodation to either The Avenue Hotel for a couple or Aria Hotel for a family of four. Accommodation includes full buffet breakfast and parking. 

All you have to do to be in the running is take a picture of you and your favourite blooms and upload it via the entry form above. Your photo will be added to our gallery of gorgeous flower shots and may win you one of the great Canberra experiences.

For more information on these events go to Floriade and NightFest.

Kiera has been an apprentice under Floriade’s Head Gardener for since 2009. Here she shares some insider festival secrets and stories.

1.       How long have you been working at Floriade?

I started my apprenticeship in 2009, and was on monthly rotations through Floriade from the start. By the end of my apprenticeship, I had seen the entire process from set up to the pull down of Floriade. I have always had a passion for Floriade and loved working on creating the event. It was my goal to one day be permanently part of the Floriade team. On a number of occasions I was privileged enough to be asked to act with higher duties while the previous Floriade leading hand was on leave, so I leapt at this opportunity and recently I have moved into this roll permanently.

2.       Floriade was supposed to be a one off event to celebrate Australia’s centenary. Why has it stood the test of time?

Floriade originally occurred as a once-off event as a gift to Canberra for its Bicentenary 75th birthday, but in order to carry out such a large event  like Floriade,  trials had to take place to ensure success. Floriade was first trialed at Yarralumla Nursery in the year of 1987 where bulbs and annuals were planted in long rows to test and gather statistics such as soil temps, plant growth, and plant nutrition to ensure that when the event was to take place the following year it would have great success. The first Floriade then took place in Canberra’s Commonwealth Park in September 1988 and due to its popularity during this time it was suggested to make it an annual event which is why we are still able to celebrate Floriade to this day. The beauty and size of the event has people coming back each year, and ensures it is a milestone calendar event in Canberra, signifying spring and warmer weather.  

3.       What is your favourite flower?

As shown below Tulipa burgundy lace would be one of my favourites as I love the colour and the frilled edges.  It’s quite an elegant flower!

4.       What does it take each year to get the Commonwealth Park gardens ready for Floriade?

It takes a very enthusiastic team that’s committed and hard working to come together to create such a beautiful event. In my team directly, once we have the design brief from the landscape architect team, we begin marking out the bed locations in early February while working with a lovely team of contractors who are trailing behind laying drainage and preparing the first level of soil. Andrew the Head Gardener and I, and a small team of apprentices then begin marking out the designs and organising the bulbs to be planted in their designated sections. The bulbs are then planted and a second layer of annual mix is placed on top. This layer is then re-marked with the bed design and sections, ready for the final layer of annuals planted.      

5.       More specifically what is your role in the preparations?

As Floriade team leader I work with a small group of apprentices to mark out the Floriade layout in early February which than ensures that all beds, paths and tents will fit. Then after the drainage and first layer of soil has been spread we then get to work on marking out every individual design for each bed. We then place stakes on main points to maintain these markings and then place bulbs out according to their individual sections.  After the bulbs have been planted they are then covered and we then remark the design again matching the design below as best as possible. Annuals are then planted in the required design and watered in. Bird netting is then attached to the temporary fencing around each individual bed to reduce damage from occurring to the beds during the winter months. Ongoing maintenance such as watering, replanting, fertilising and removal of leaves still continues during these winter months then before you know it,  spring has arrived and the bird netting is removed and the event is pieced together to create an amazing floral display. After the event we have the task of removing all the beds and returning the park to turf as the park is then used for numerous sporting and music events.  The process in preparation for the following year’s Floriade then begins.

6.       How many people are involved in getting Floriade up and running?

During Floriade’s peak preparation times our team usually consists of the following:

Horticultural team: Head Gardener, myself, and eight apprentices

Spray team: Four staff highly competent in pest management and weed control.

These guys look after plant health and growth and run the fertilising programme.

Contractors: roughly a team of about 10-15 staff whose rolls are to install drainage, build the beds, plant and build the granite paths.

This is just my area of work – as well as this, there are landscape architects, operations team, marketing, event programming and management and then of course all the volunteers during the event. It’s a big undertaking!

7.       Do you think it is a fun place to work?

It’s an amazing job! I love it; I love the group of people I work with and I love that we are able to look back and see what we have achieved, each year.

8.       What is your most treasured Floriade memory?

I would have to say one of my many treasured moments would be the year the queen came to visit in 2011. We spent hours upon hours dead heading spent tulips and tidying up the park after having hundreds of thousands of people attend over the month of Floriade but the atmosphere it brought to Commonwealth Park was amazing. 

9.       How do people who have never been to Floriade react when they come the first time?

When I’m on site at Floriade, people visiting often approach me, and ask questions about the displays and event in general. The majority of these people have travelled quite some way and are blown away by the display that we have created. They seem to all love the designs within the gardens, the colour, food, presentations and most of all, they seem to love the annual flower Bellis Perennis. Bellis is a small English daisy used quite a bit throughout our gardens and would be the people’s choice of annuals as it has a beautiful pom-pom like flower and comes in a range of pinks, whites and reds.     

10.       What would the public be surprised to learn about Floriade?

11.       What is your favourite display at Floriade?

My most favourite display at previous Floriades would have to be the year we created 3D teddy bears. Even though they were a headache to build, in the end they turned out amazingly. This year I am particularly excited to see the 3D wave bed in full bloom.

12.       What does Floriade have to offer this year?

Floriade always puts on an amazing show, however this year we have a couple of new varieties of tulips which I’m very excited to see in bloom. The one I’m most interested in seeing on display is the Triumph Tulip Roulette which is said to give an astonishing display of red blooms on a multi –flowered stem. Non-flower related, this year we welcome top chef talent (Adriano Zumbo, Scott Gooding from My Kitchen Rules and Clayton Donovan), brilliant floral artistry (Moxom & Whitney, the Floral Society) and we also have Dogs’ Day Out on Saturday 15 October – which is always a huge hit!