The Two Moors Festival – “Music on the Moors”
RHS Gold Medal and Best Courtyard Garden 2010
Never backwards in coming forwards, the Two Moors Festival decided to celebrate its tenth Anniversary with a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. “Music on the Moors” attracted over 100,000 visitors who saw 5x4 metres (13x17ft) of an impeccably designed and immaculately assembled floral representation of everything the Festival has to offer: concerts at the highest level held in Dartmoor and Exmoor’s rural churches; a 3107sq km (1200 square-mile) area of outstanding beauty in which to spend a holiday; highlighting the close links between music and the countryside.
The Garden won an RHS Gold Medal and Best in Show in the Courtyard category. It took three years to achieve and would never have come to fruition but for the advice and encouragement from the RHS.
The garden did more for the Festival than anyone could have imagined. It achieved considerable recognition in the national press; likewise television, repeated mention on Classic FM and articles in many magazines including those relating to music, the arts, gardens and the NFU!
Audience figures rose by 20%.
At a stroke it portrayed the Festival as a confident organisation, innovative, creative and one that was prepared to take risks.
The Festival relies on funding from trusts, the Friends and private donors to sustain it. The success of the garden has proved to be invaluable when approaching organisations for financial support as it shows that we can take on a completely new project and make it succeed.
Christina Williams (a member of the Society of Garden Designers) designed the garden which was funded by Dartmoor and Exmoor National Park Authorities, Rathbones, St John’s Nurseries, an auction and many local people who opened their gardens in aid of the project.