Flora

Worth a detour

The Flora halls sit among the trees in the Sea Garden and hold the national flower exhibition of the same name, which has run every spring since 1980 and takes in growers from abroad. The 2026 edition, the forty-first, filled the park from the first to the tenth of May. Outside show weeks the domes are usually shut and there is nothing to go in for — so check the dates, and do not make a detour without them.

Story

Background

The expo centre is municipal and takes its name from the show rather than the other way round. It is a cluster of domed halls in the park — a round hall and five numbered ones, with an inner courtyard and outdoor trading space — and its business is the annual exhibition, held in late April and early May, which spills out of the buildings into the courtyard and the surrounding alleys. The indoor halls hold the market of organic and craft produce that goes with it.

Between shows the halls are let for other things, and the programme is worth a look because when something is on this is one of the few large indoor spaces in the city a visitor can simply walk into. Recent seasons have included a fish and wine festival in early September and a health fair in the middle of the month, both free.

The practical caution is the obvious one. A dome in a park is not an attraction when it is shut, and for most of the year it is shut. If you are in the Sea Garden anyway the halls are a two-minute diversion from the main avenue, close to the northern beaches and to the stop where the little tourist train leaves for the salt pans. Combine them with the walk rather than making them the object of it. Note that the centre's old web address has lapsed; the current programme is published by the municipal enterprise that also runs the Summer Theatre.