Hundreds of visitors came to Caerphilly town centre for this year’s Caerphilly Flower Festival.
The annual event, which has been running since 2006, saw an array of flower displays pop up across the town centre.
The festival, which was organised by Caerphilly Town Council, took place over the weekend of Friday, June 21 to Sunday, June 23.
Caerphilly Library and Caerphilly Visitors’ Centre both hosted floral displays, while a number of churches took part and created their own displays.
Cllr James Fussell, who helped organise the festival, said: “Delyth Jewell AM, Caerphilly town Mayor Mike Prew, Cllr Huw Jackson, Cllr Phil Bevan, Cllr Lindsay Whittle and myself held a tour of the venues on the Friday morning and there was around 30 people going around before midday.
“The weather helped and we’ve had positive emails from chapels and churches that took part.
“I was surprised to see so many people with the festival leaflets doing the tour on the Sunday and there was a lot more on the Saturday.”
Cllr Fussell added: “It’s always interesting to go around. There is a lot of diversity in what people have put up.
“All the churches had their own themes, with some displays depicting various countries and others depicting religious themes.
“Some of the displays can be quite impactful and thought-provoking. Every church is individual.
“It was also pleasing to see Y Galeri displays with local artists. Y Galeri was well worth a visit.”
Cllr Fussell also expressed that efforts will be made to refresh the festival next year to ensure it can continue to attract more and more visitors.
Delyth Jewell AM said: “It was a pleasure to see the beautiful displays in so many locations across Caerphilly. The hours of hard work paid off and people were treated to an array of stunning work. Our town really shone. There’s nothing quite like Caerphilly in bloom on a warm summer’s day.”
Marjorie Gray, who was a flower arranger at Mount Carmel Church, said: “I believe most churches did well. Everybody had a different theme and it was very interesting.
“Our theme was countries and we had 16 different displays in our church. I worked on the Russian display.
“Caerphilly Town Council do an extremely good job with the festival.”
The churches which took part in the flower festival were:
- United Reform Church, Van Road.
- Presbyterian Church, Windsor Road.
- Caerphilly Connect Life Pentecostal Church, Crescent Road.
- Wesley Methodist Church, Crescent Road.
- St Helen’s Catholic Church, Nantgarw Road.
- Bethel Congregational Church, Nantgarw Road.
- Mount Carmel Church, Pontygwindy Road.
- St Catherine’s Church, Mill Road.
The Malcolm Uphill pub on Cardiff Road also took part in the three-day event.
Displays from Caerphilly and District Floral Society, Caerphilly Horticultural Society and Glynderi Bonsai Club were set up at the Twyn Community Centre.
Mayor Prew said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the day and was amazed at the quality and standard of the displays, as well as the variety from all the different participating groups.
“Hopefully the town council can continue to support this Festival and would welcome other interested parties to engage in whichever way they can in the future.
“Really looking forward to the Wales in Bloom judging taking place a week Saturday as this Festival does add to the overall marks and I wish the Caerphilly in Bloom group all the very best for a solid result this year.”