YORK has been bursting into colour over the past few weeks in honour of the inaugural Bloom! flower festival, which starts tomorrow.

A celebration of everything green-fingered across the city, the festival is marking the 250th anniversary of The Ancient Society of York Florists - the oldest floral society in the world, which was founded in 1768.

Bloom!, which runs from July 5-8, will include exhibitions, open days, talks and workshops at a range of venues city-wide and aims to draw in the whole family.

Festival curator Lotte Inch said: “Bloom! will be for absolutely everyone - adults, children, hipsters, academics, foodies, style seekers and history buffs. For

those who love gardening or those who can’t keep a cactus alive.”

The Ancient Society of York Florists is also hosting its own summer flower show on Parliament Street, to coincide with Bloom!, for the first time since its founding.

Fairfax House, in Castlegate,

will have displays inspired by its summer exhibition, The Genius

of Grinling Gibbons, the famous 18th-century wood-carver.

The museum’s displays mark the tenth anniversary of its first flower show and the 50th of the Acomb Flower Guild, who have helped transform the Georgian interior.

York BID has also turned the city centre into a riot of colour, installing more than 100 floral displays, including planters, flower towers and hanging baskets.

Among the groups celebrating city-wide is Holgate Allotments, near the site of the old Carriage Works, which is opening a community garden that includes an old railway carriage as its centrepiece.

The allotments feature decommissioned carriages that were brought in to use as sheds and many past allotment holders worked at the Carriage Works.

The garden will be formally opened by Rachael Maskell MP

on Sunday, July 8 at 3pm.

Lotte Inch said: “It is quite remarkable to see how York has pulled together for Bloom!.

“We’ve got pop-up gardens, decorated doorways and windows,

floral displays and horticultural installations. It really does have to be seen to be believed.

“We hope that people will make a special trip into the city centre to support this fantastic event.”

Other events include a fountain garden in Exhibition Square, a

hidden gardens trail throughout the city and a ‘congregation’ of trees at The Priory Church of the Holy Trinity, a horticultural

science zone at York St John

University, while the Museum Gardens will be displaying the 12 winning entries in the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition.

For full festival information and details of the events mentioned visit www.bloomyork.com