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Including a name change and the size of the Floral Marquee...
Less than two months on from the renowned RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the much larger RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. Previously (and still commonly) known as the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, this gardening event – held annually every July – is actually the biggest in the world.
For 2025, it returns to the grounds of Hampton Court Palace, offering spectacular garden designs, beautiful floral displays and exclusive shopping. But there's change on the horizon. In a major shake-up announced by the Royal Horticultural Society, RHS Hampton will now switch to a new schedule and return in 2027. Here are some more interesting facts you may not know...
RHS Hampton is held on the grounds of Hampton Court Palace in East Molesey, Surrey. The Grade I listed royal palace was famously the home of Henry VIII (if you have the time, it's well worth a visit). Visitors to RHS Hampton will be surrounded by manicured gardens upon arrival, and if you walk along the Long Water, you'll see picturesque views of the Tudor palace.
RHS Hampton has a rich history. The brainchild of management consultant Adrian Boyd, it was first held in 1990 and created by Historic Royal Palaces and Network Southeast. For the very first Hampton Show, Network Southeast laid on special trains from Waterloo and the railway porters wore carnations in their hats.
Then in 1992, Network Southeast announced it was withdrawing and the RHS was the successful bidder to take over. The first RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show was held in 1993.
It takes three weeks to build a Show Garden and two weeks to build a small garden. But it's a race against time once the show ends – designers and build teams have just five days to dismantle it all.
After 26 years, the RHS decided to rebrand Hampton in 2019, announcing a name change from the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show to the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.
Show manager Gemma Lake told House Beautiful at the time: 'We made the decision to update the name as we felt "Garden Festival" better reflected the atmosphere and the experience of our visitors at the event. With live music, creative workshops and plenty of culinary experiences to dig into, it highlights the fact that there is something for everyone – whether it’s for those looking for ideas, plants and tips to transform their own homes and outdoor spaces, to those simply looking to enjoy a beautiful summer's day out with friends and family amongst nature.'
Pass the Long Water and you'll see a large white tent named the Floral Marquee. The Floral Marquee at Hampton is in many ways similar to the Great Pavilion at RHS Chelsea – a crown jewel. The Floral Marquee is pretty huge, too: it measures 6,750 square metres, big enough to fit an FA football pitch.
An average of 130,000 people attend RHS Hampton every year (in 2021 numbers were capped at 100,000 for Covid safety measures). It's a family day out too, with most visitors spending around five hours at the festival.
Speaking of visitors, 3,300 glasses of Pimm’s, on average, are consumed during festival week, the RHS reveals, alongside 17,000+ cups of Fairtrade tea and coffee, 11,000+ sandwiches and 2,800+ slices of cake.
Following her success at RHS Chelsea, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, unveiled her second RHS Back to Nature Garden at RHS Hampton 2019.
Once again teaming up with landscape architects Andrée Davies and Adam White, the second creation included new playful features such as a pond, rolling hill, bug hotel, hidden burrow and a bee-friendly wildflower meadow.
The Floral Marquee and Plant Village offers a plethora of beautiful seasonal flowers and foliage plants for sale from some of the best nurseries. Fun fact: More flowers are sold per square mile at RHS Hampton than anywhere else in the UK.
Like many events around the world, RHS Hampton was cancelled in 2020 due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. The world's leading gardening charity had already postponed the popular event from July to early September in the hope that the show might be possible, but later confirmed it would not go ahead to protect its staff and visitors.
'We are saddened to announce that due to the continued uncertainty about events amid the ongoing Covid-19 situation, we regretfully must cancel the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, supported by Viking Cruises,' the RHS said in a statement at the time.
RHS Hampton returned in 2021. The RHS implemented a series of measures including requiring all visitors to take a lateral flow test before travelling; providing evidence of a negative result before being admitted to the event; socially distanced queueing systems; changes to layouts on the ground and enhanced cleaning.
2024 saw award-winning garden designer Juliet Sargeant design The Lion King Anniversary Community Garden, celebrating 25 years of the West End production.
The garden was the talk of the show after scooping the Best Show Garden and the newly-launched RHS Environmental Innovation Award. It was a special occasion all around, as the cast of The Lion King delivered special performances in the garden, bringing theatre to RHS Hampton to much applause.
Mike McMahon and Jewlsy Mathews swept the board at RHS Hampton 2025 with their rainforest-themed show garden, Subaru Cocoon.
The duo scooped a Gold medal and achieved a triple win (Best Show Garden, Best Construction for a Show Garden and the RHS Environmental Innovation Award), joining a list of the most successful gardens at RHS Hampton.
The garden highlights the importance of the temperate rainforests in the UK – one of the country’s most fragile and overlooked ecosystems.
Liz Nicholson, chair of the judging panel, described it as a 'transportational and convincing space', adding: 'Exceptional showmanship under difficult conditions during the build has resulted in an established, calm and sensitive garden that delivers on brief and celebrates nature.'
Roses are at their peak at the time of the festival, so there's lots of inspiration to be had inside the fragrant Festival of Roses marquee. Major growers include Fryer's, David Austin, Harkness and Peter Beales.
The frequency of RHS Hampton is changing. After the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2025, it will become a biennial festival, occurring once every two years.
For 2026, a new RHS Show will take place in the historic grounds of Badminton Estate in Gloucestershire before returning to Hampton Court Palace in 2027.
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