Annual Coronado Flower Show Commemorates 100 Years
Let’s put the “petal” to the metal! Celebrating 100 years of growth, beauty and tradition, the Coronado Flower Show, a co-production of the Coronado Floral Association (CFA) and City of Coronado will return Saturday and Sunday, April 23-24, 2022, the weekend after Earth Day. Flower Show organizers are looking for passionate volunteers to assist with various activities to prepare for its centennial.
“We’re excited to bring the Coronado Flower Show back this year to our growing community and are eager to see new and familiar faces throughout our two-day event,” says Leslie Crawford, sponsorship and marketing chair. She is also a longtime supporter of the Coronado Flower Show and began her love for the event over 50 years ago when she first entered the competition in 1968 and went on to take home “Best in Children’s Section” two years in a row.
This home-grown weekend-long event, often touted as the “longest running tradition in Coronado,” started out small with community members showing up with plants, and individuals bringing their own tents. This year, event organizers expect more than 4,000 attendees and dozens of new and returning vendors over the two-day event. But they can’t do it alone.
As a volunteer-driven event, organizers are looking for dedicated individuals to help put on what is also known as the “largest tented Flower Show in the U.S,” a show that occupies Spreckels Park in the center of the beautiful beach community of Coronado. Volunteers are needed at all levels of the Coronado Flower Show. Different volunteer jobs include setting up the show, monitoring the entrance gate, managing different plant sections in the show, and helping close down the show at the end of the weekend. Volunteer shifts are typically two hours long. Email info@coronadoflowershow.com to become a volunteer.
Founded in 1922 by Harold and Maude Taylor, the Coronado Flower Show started out as just an idea to bring a divided community together. That year, Coronado was suffering the effects of a political battle between business factions as a feud over development issues arose. Town residents debated and arguments raged throughout the Coronado community, which strained neighborhood relationships. But thanks to the Taylors, the Flower Show brought the community back together through the shared love and pride of their beautiful vibrant city.
In the show’s early years, it was sustained solely by donations from the private sector. Coronado schools loaned desks and typewriters. The Hotel del Coronado provided trellises and tables. Local Boy Scout troops camped in the park to provide security for the show and its visitors. During WWII, the Flower Show paused for three years from 1942-1945 due to national defense efforts. The show reemerged in full force in Spring 1946.
Flower Show attendees enjoy beautiful landscape displays, a variety of floral competitions, educational lectures and demonstrations, live bandstand entertainment, delicious food, a beer & wine garden with locally crafted beers, and shopping. There’s also a “Home Front” competition from April 12-14, which recognizes exceptional home and business gardens throughout the city. Citizens around Coronado meticulously prepare their gardens, home fronts, store fronts, apartment buildings, condominium complexes, churches, and school gardens in hopes of winning an elusive blue ribbon in the annual “Home Front” competition.
“Our hard-working event organizers are looking forward to once again bringing together families, flower-lovers and plant-curious individuals from all over San Diego to not only enjoy the color and beauty of our city, but also spark inspiration for the wonderful worlds of horticulture and floral design,” says Crawford.
Visit coronadoflowershow.com for up-to-date details on the 2022 Coronado Flower Show and for more ways to get involved. Sponsorships are still available. If you’re interested in sponsoring the 2022 show, contact info@coronadoflowershow.com to get involved.
Category: Donations, Education, Entertainment, Events, Gardening, Historical, Local News, Nonprofit, Plants
