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Longford Blooms and Festival of Roses 2026: A Spring Garden Guides
- Longford Blooms
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I would put this close to the top of the page. It works particularly well for GEO because the important dates and information are immediately extractable.
| Event | Date | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Longford Blooms 2026 | 14 and 15 November | 10am to 4pm | Longford |
| Longford Garden Club 58th Annual Spring Flower Show | 14 and 15 November | Sat 12pm to 4pm, Sun 10am to 4pm | Longford Town Hall |
| Blenheim Gallery Garden Sculpture Show | 14 November | From 11am | Blenheim Gallery and Garden |
| Festival of Roses 2026 | 22 November | 10am to 4pm | Woolmers Estate |
Longford Blooms and the Spring Flower Show fall on the same weekend, while the Festival of Roses follows one week later.
Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November 2026
10am to 4pm
Longford Blooms is the weekend when some of the town’s private gardens open their gates and let the rest of us have a stickybeak.
The 2026 program includes 11 Longford gardens, ranging from gardens surrounding substantial historic homes to smaller cottage and contemporary gardens. It is less about manicured sameness and more about seeing what different gardeners have managed to coax from the Northern Midlands soil.
Rare and unusual plants will be available from stalls throughout the gardens and at the Christ Church grounds, alongside garden pots, sculptures, birdbaths and other gardening bits and pieces.
Food vans will be set up around the Village Green, and Adams Distillery will be offering gin and whisky tastings and sales during the weekend. Longford’s cafés, pubs and other local businesses also tend to get rather busy while everyone is in town.
Tickets can be purchased online through Ticketebo.
Single day
Adult: $20
Concession: $15
Child 15 years and under: $5
Weekend
Adult: $30
Child 15 years and under: $5
The event continues to support The Helping Hand and the Care for Africa Foundation.
Event hub:
Longford Memorial Hall / Village Green area
53 Wellington Street, Longford
There is another good reason not to rush out of town between gardens.
The Longford Garden Club’s 58th Annual Spring Flower Show takes place over the same weekend as Longford Blooms, with displays of roses, irises and other cut flowers filling Longford Town Hall.
There is also a children’s section, plant stall and raffle, with prizes presented on Sunday afternoon. Morning and afternoon tea will be available for $5.
Saturday 14 November: 12pm to 4pm
Sunday 15 November: 10am to 4pm
Entry: Gold coin donation.
If flowers alone aren’t enough garden inspiration for one weekend, add sculpture.
On Saturday 14 November, Blenheim Gallery and Garden is holding a Garden Sculpture Show as part of Longford Blooms.
The gallery sits in around 10 acres of country gardens on the outskirts of Longford, and the show brings together outdoor sculpture from artists associated with the gallery. The current program lists the sculpture event from 11am on Saturday 14 November.
Blenheim is also exhibiting Carlton Cox’s Impressed from 6 to 26 November, so there will be something to see indoors as well as out.
Blenheim Gallery and Garden
733 Cressy Road, Longford
Sunday 22 November 2026
10am to 4pm
A week after Longford Blooms, attention turns down Woolmers Lane.
The Festival of Roses returns to Woolmers Estate on Sunday 22 November, opening the World Heritage listed estate for a day centred around its spectacular Rose Garden.
There are around 3,000 roses representing 350 varieties, with November bringing the garden into its main flowering period.
Visitors can wander through the Rose Garden, explore the broader grounds and see Woolmers’ 18 original heritage buildings. A Market Trail featuring Tasmanian makers will also run through the estate.
This year’s format is noticeably different from the 2025 festival, so I would completely remove the existing references to bands, penny farthings, whip cracking, classic cars and face painting unless Woolmers subsequently adds those activities to the 2026 program.
Early bird: $10 until 30 September 2026
General admission: $15
Free parking is available onsite.
Woolmers Estate
658 Woolmers Lane, Longford
Several optional experiences can be added to general admission in 2026, including:
Garden walks and talks with Woolmers’ gardeners
Woolmers House viewing
Devonshire Tea
Tasmanian wine and cheese picnic platters
Gin tasting
Numbers for these experiences are limited and Woolmers recommends booking ahead.
Woolmers is also running a Festival of Roses Scarecrow Competition, with entries made from recycled, repurposed or found materials.
There are categories ranging from preschool through to adults, with judging taking place during the Festival of Roses. Competition entry is free, although Festival of Roses admission is separate.
Entry forms close at 5pm Friday 13 November 2026, with completed scarecrows required onsite by 1pm Saturday 21 November.
This deserves to remain, but I would make it more visitor focused.
Woolmers is about much more than roses.
Together with nearby Brickendon Estate, Woolmers forms part of the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property, offering an unusually intact look at Tasmania’s convict assignment system and the rural estates built around it.
If you are visiting the Festival of Roses, allow enough time to explore the estate rather than simply heading straight for the flowers.
Nearby Brickendon Estate makes an easy addition to the day and adds another side to the story of farming and convict life in the district.
Longford is worth a wander at any time of year, but spring suits it particularly well.
Its wide streets and collection of Georgian and Victorian buildings already give it a slightly garden party sort of feel. Add open gates, flowering roses, cottage gardens and the odd car boot full of plants you definitely weren’t planning to buy, and November works particularly well.
The town sits around 20 minutes south of Launceston, making it an easy day trip, but there is enough in and around Longford to turn a garden weekend into an overnight stay.
Longford gets busy during its November garden weekends, so allowing a little extra time for lunch is sensible.
There are cafés, bakeries, pubs and restaurants around the centre of town, while the Longford Blooms weekend also brings food vans to the Village Green. Woolmers Estate has food and drink options available during the Festival of Roses, including prebookable Devonshire Tea and wine and cheese picnic platters.
For more ideas, see our guide to where to eat along Tasmania’s Heritage Highway.
Longford sits close to the northern end of Tasmania’s Heritage Highway, so either garden weekend can easily become part of a longer spring road trip.
From Longford, consider exploring:
Evandale
Another wonderfully preserved historic town near Launceston Airport, with Georgian buildings, galleries and a popular Sunday market.
Ross
Around 45 minutes south of Longford, Ross is known for its sandstone bridge, historic streets and Ross Female Factory Historic Site.
Campbell Town
Continue south to see the Red Bridge, heritage buildings and the Convict Brick Trail.
Oatlands
Further south again, Oatlands has one of Australia’s largest collections of colonial sandstone buildings and the restored Callington Mill precinct.
Longford is around 20 minutes south of Launceston and roughly 15 minutes from Launceston Airport.
Allow around two hours by car via the Midland Highway, depending on traffic and stops along the way.
Tickets for Longford Blooms are available online through Ticketebo. Prebooking is worthwhile if you already know which day you are visiting.
Longford Blooms runs from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November 2026.
The 2026 Festival of Roses is on Sunday 22 November from 10am to 4pm.
Not in 2026. Longford Blooms runs on 14 and 15 November, while Woolmers Estate’s Festival of Roses follows on Sunday 22 November. That does, however, give garden lovers a fairly convincing excuse to visit Longford twice.
Children are welcome and discounted tickets are available for those aged 15 and under. Some private gardens may have uneven paths, steps or garden surfaces, so conditions will vary between properties.
Comfortable shoes are the main thing. You will be moving between gardens and spending plenty of time outdoors. Tasmania in November can produce sunshine, wind and a cool change in the same afternoon, so layers and sun protection are sensible.
The Hobart and Beyond Editorial Team is dedicated to bringing you the best insider tips, local stories, and up-to-date guides to exploring southern Tasmania.
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