Take a trip back to the good ol' days at garden party

Visitors to Hamilton Gardens can take a trip back in time and revel in The Great Gatsby era at next month's Mansfield Garden Party.

From 10.30am to 5pm on Sunday, 7 February, Rogers Rose Garden will host free, 1920s-themed activities and a vintage car show organised by the Friends of Hamilton Gardens.

Hamiltonians can pack their picnic baskets and enjoy a family friendly day out, with entertainment from the Drinking and Dancing band, the River City Stompers and Cervetto Trio. Garden Party goers will also be able to take part in free Charleston dance lessons and watch the Wai-Kat Swing dancers.
Mayor Julie Hardaker will be opening the event and is excited to be a part of the day.

“The Mansfield Garden Party is in its second year and is a fun day for the whole family in the beautiful setting of the Hamilton Gardens.  It’s a great way to support the development of the Mansfield Garden, one of the gardens in the Hamilton Gardens development project,” says Mayor Hardaker.


Photo courtesy of Hamilton City Council

Visitors are encouraged to wear 1920s attire, even if it is just a straw boater or long beads. There will be a best dressed parade run by Glory Days vintage magazine. Prizes are up for grabs for best dressed female, male, family, Katherine Mansfield look-alike and more.

Glory Days vintage magazine will be running a salon series alongside the Garden Party from 11am to 1pm in the Hamilton Gardens Pavilion. Tickets are $35 and include a goodie bag, morning tea and Hendricks Gin cocktail. The salon series features talks on the food, fashion and literature of the 1920s.

Volunteers on the day will be taking gold coin donations towards the development of the Mansfield Garden at Hamilton Gardens. The planned garden is based on the fictional garden in The Garden Party, a short story set in the 1920s by renowned New Zealand writer – Katherine Mansfield.

Mansfield’s description has shaped the design for the garden, which will include a tennis court, lily pond and the frontage of a late 19th century villa. The Mansfield Garden is one of five gardens proposed to be completed in four years as a part of the Hamilton Gardens development plan.