A MAJOR autumn flower show has announced the event will be moving to a new venue next year.

The Harrogate Flower Show's autumn gardening show will move to Newby Hall and Gardens for its 2020 event, and will take place for the last time in its current location, the Great Yorkshire Showground, on September 13 to 15.

Up to 40,000 show visitors are set to be wowed this weekend by a huge centrepiece Back to the Future display designed to showcase the event’s new 2020 venue at Newby Hall.

Harrogate Flower Show director Nick Smith said: “Any good attraction or event should regularly review what it is able to offer and ensure that it stays both relevant and vibrant for its visitors.

“We have carried out that process over the last year and, working with our partners at Newby, we are thrilled to become the first national gardening event to offer future visitors all of their favourite show features, plus access to a fabulous stately home and gardens.

Richard Compton, owner of Newby Hall and Gardens, added: “We are delighted to be hosting the UK’s premier autumn gardening event and can promise a warm Newby welcome to Harrogate Autumn Flower Show visitors.

“Our award-winning gardens offer 15 different garden ‘rooms’ to explore, in addition to our iconic herbaceous borders. The combination of the flower show, the gardens and the hall will create an incredible experience. We are proud and excited.”

Flower show organisers are, however, keen to stress that the Harrogate Spring Flower Show will remain at its current home at the Great Yorkshire Showground. The next event takes place on 23 – 26 April 2020.

Nick Smith commented: “We have always opened and closed the UK gardening season with two very distinct events in spring and autumn. We can now celebrate those differences by offering two very different venues as well as two very different shows.”

Also featuring in this autumn’s special Back to the Future theme is a large-scale display created by Golden Acre Park in Leeds. Their recreation of a disused railway line is designed to illustrate the park’s 80-year journey from its origins as the lost amusement park of Leeds to a future role as a beacon of biodiversity.

The flower show is open from 9.30am to 5.30pm (4.30pm on Sunday). Tickets are available each day on the gate: Fri & Sat 20.50, Sun £19. Children under 16 are free with an adult. Parking is free.

Editor’s notes: Harrogate Flower Shows are organised twice a year by the North of England Horticultural Society, a leading gardening charity set up in 1911 to promote horticulture across the north.

The 2019 event will be the 44th Harrogate Autumn Flower Show, which was originally held in the town’s Valley Gardens, before moving to the Exhibition Halls in 1983 and the Great Yorkshire Showground in 1995.