III Международный фестиваль «Французский сад на берегах Невы»

The Imperial Gardens of Russia

Exhibition-contest within the framework of "The Imperial Gardens of Russia" annual international festival initiated by the Russian Museum jointly with His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent Charitable Foundation and the Union of Gardeners of Russia was held in summer 2008. The event was dated to the 110th anniversary of the Russian Museum.

Such a grand scale event held under the patronage HRH Princess Michael of Kent, descendant of the ancient family of Medici and wife of Prince Michael of Kent, a relative by blood of the Romanovs certainly attracted numerous visitors and experts to the gardens of the Russian Museum and broaden the possibilities of fundraising for the preservation of the national landscape gardening monuments.

The main condition of the exhibition-contest was to create the compositions in a single style and on a certain set theme. The contributors from each organization (or country), who were invited to the festival, arranged the garden area allotted to them according to their own, previously designed project approved by the screening committee.

All kinds of experts (designers, decorators, botanists, architects, art historians, gardeners) contributed to the festival generating subjects for the compositions.

Exhibition-contest within the framework of "The Imperial Gardens of Russia" annual international festival was held on the territory of the Mikhailovsky Garden from 30 May to 3 June 2008.



“Imperial Gardens of Russia” Third International Festival
“French Garden on the Banks of the Neva” Exhibition-Contest

The Imperial Gardens of Russia International Festival

‘The Imperial Gardens of Russia’ International Festival in the Mikhailovsky Garden under the patronage of the Governor of Saint Petersburg Valentina Matvienko and Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent that was organized by the Russian Museum with support of His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent Charitable Foundation, the Russian Museum Palaces Restoration Fund and the Union of Gardeners of Russia was a great success and exceeded all expectations. Circa 60 000 people visited the Mikhailovsky Garden during the Festival (30 May – 3 June 2008) according to the approximate calculation. The visitors were: citizens and tourists, Russian and foreign landscape experts, politicians and businessmen.

The main event of the Festival was the ‘Creations and Decorations in the Imperial Gardens of XVIII and XIX Centuries’ exhibition-contest. The members of the Jury that are well known landscape architects and florists from Russia (L. Kanunnikova, T. Volftrub, G. Pergamenschikova, V. Bermyakov), New Zealand (D. Menzies, M. Ignatieva), the USA (N. Kirkwood), France (P. Gestkoff). Germany (C. Herrmann) and Belgium (P. Carron) appreciated compositions created by participants at two nominations:

  • The Best Composition of Gardening Art in the Style of the XVIII Century
  •  The Best Composition of Gardening Art in the Style of the XIX Century

Prize-winners of the Festival, who got the first, the second and the third places, were awarded memorial gifts and honorary certificates of the Imperial Gardens of Russia Festival. Read more...