Shanghai in Bloom | 2026 Shanghai International Flower Show: A citywide floral celebration
The 2026 Shanghai International Flower Show will run from April 18 to May 10, spanning 23 days of floral celebration.
The festival features two main venues — Shanghai Botanical Garden and Huangpu district — along with 10 sub-venues across Pudong New Area, Xuhui district, Jing'an district, Changning district, Fengxian district, the Lin-gang Special Area, Fuxing Island, Chenshan Botanical Garden, Binjiang Forest Park, and Gongqing Forest Park. The event also extends to key commercial areas, parks, and green spaces across all 16 districts of the city.
Shanghai Botanical Garden
As one of the main venues, Shanghai Botanical Garden covers an exhibition area of 40 hectares and is organized into four core zones, offering visitors an immersive horticultural experience with scientific value.
The Community Garden zone, developed in partnership with Chinese Landscape Architecture magazine, centers on the concept of eco-friendly community gardens. Eight selected installations bring fresh perspectives to life. Highlights include a nostalgic Shanghai-style garden woven with climbing roses, azaleas, and irises; a rice-centric aesthetic garden featuring feather grass, foxglove, and lupine; and an immersive play area inspired by leafcutter ants, where tall sunflowers take center stage.
Elsewhere at the venue, visitors can explore a display of new and improved plant varieties from both China and abroad, an edible garden that offers an immersive "from garden to table" experience, and a rare plant zone that highlights biodiversity conservation through immersive landscaping.
Huangpu main venue
The Huangpu main venue, centered around Xintiandi and Gucheng Park, covers an exhibition area of 41 hectares and showcases top-tier garden design talent. The World Garden section features works by renowned garden designers and Chelsea Flower Show teams from the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, and other countries. At Xintiandi, Dutch firm MLA+B.V. presents a poetic vision of human-water coexistence, while a collaboration between AECOM from the US and designers from the UK and Australia uses seeds as a symbol for the spread and continuity of life. At Gucheng Park, visitors can enter the Misty Forest by Latz+Partner of Germany, a design that interweaves Chinese mythology with the German poem Abendlied.
The Specialty Garden zone bridges tradition and modernity, integrating light art, floral installations, and therapeutic landscapes to explore the intersection of flowers with culture and technology. At Xintiandi, a whimsical forest space created with light prisms awaits, alongside an art installation of rose petals shaped from polished acrylic. At Gucheng Park, mirrored surfaces create a play of symmetry, with one installation reflecting a large tree as if it were an inverted image on the ground, while another, designed by Gongqing Forest Park, evokes the dreamlike atmosphere of Claude Monet's garden.
Beyond these dedicated zones, Huangpu links iconic landmarks such as Yuyuan Garden, Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road, Sinan Mansions, and Fuxing Park. Along this route, visitors will encounter more than 40 themed garden installations and over 60 floral window displays. Combining global design, cultural heritage, and eco-technology, the district transforms into a spring flower path that invites exploration at every turn.
A citywide celebration of flowers
Throughout the festival, a rich lineup of supporting events will take place across all districts. In the Qiantan area of Pudong, a flower-viewing trail stretching over two kilometers will be complemented by more than 100 themed events, including jazz concerts, markets, and flash mob performances.
Miracle Garden in Minhang is themed around The Little Prince, creating a dreamy sea of flowers over a three-month period.
Gongqing Forest Park is hosting its 25th Urban Forest Flower Show, featuring immersive natural art installations. Meanwhile, the crabapple cultural festival at People's Park, held in conjunction with the flower festival, adds a touch of traditional Chinese elegance with hanfu shows, tea ceremonies, and Shanghai Opera performances, along with a cultural and creative market.
A floral feast for culture, travel, and retail
This year's flower show has further integrated flowers with culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions, organizing more than 100 events. The showcase highlights floral heritage, Shanghai's local culture, and regional traditions, featuring a magnolia-themed cultural and creative design event marking the 40th anniversary of the city flower selection. Across the city, districts have rolled out a lively mix of lifestyle festivals, lawn concerts, art exhibitions, and coffee-and-reading events, complemented by a wide range of botanical and cultural creative products.
The flower show connects 34 shopping hubs through immersive floral displays and themed consumer discount campaigns. More than 30 themed markets and eco-art installations will appear during the holiday period. To round out the experience, three recommended travel routes link the main and sub-venues, combining flower viewing, exhibitions, shopping, dining, and accommodation, with venue guides and maps provided for visitors.
The festival also encourages a healthy, low-carbon lifestyle. Events include cycling tours, trail running, cross-country half-marathons, and yoga among the flowers.
Sources: Shanghai International Flower Show, Huangpu district government, Shanghai Botanical Garden, Miracle Garden, Gongqing Forest Park