Philadelphia Flower Show planners announce 2023 show details, ‘Much more to do than ever before’

Pennsylvania Horticultural officials have billed the 2023 Flower Show — a return to the Convention Center after two years outdoors in South Philly — as a floral celebration, brimming with bold creations and daring displays meant to spark joy.

And while show planners have upped the floral ante for the highly anticipated return indoors, they’ve also doubled down on show elements hardest to capture during a pandemic, even at the temporary grounds at FDR Park: those more intimate, creative moments when guests can not only admire beautiful things, but be part of them.

To that end, Flower Show officials announced on Friday an expanded lineup of events and activities for the 2023 show, delightfully themed, “The Garden Electric.” The planning includes a more robust offering of things to do than the pandemic shows, and even past iterations of the show at the Convention Center, officials said.

“After having lived through COVID, there’s so much more we can get back to,” said Rebecca Schuchart, the show’s director of experience and engagement in an interview. “There will be so much more to do at this show than ever before.”

That will include popular parts of festival-style outdoor shows, like mini music festivals — curated by the brass-heavy Philly band Snacktime — and held daily on a stage inside the Convention Center’s historic Grand Hall. There will be an expanded Artisans Row, where guests for the first time at the Convention Center can work alongside craftspeople, creating everything from bouquets and terrariums to floral handbags and botanical jewelry.

There will also be new highlights, all with a special, flowery touch.

Like a “Design & Dine” eatery, where guests can snack on light fare, like charcuterie, while building floral displays — and a “Bloom Bar,” where drinks will be served alongside fresh floral crowns, for guests preferring wearable pieces of art. There will be a new “Kid’s Cocoon” play area, with discovery tables and hands-on crafts, Schuchart said. And the popular after-hours dance party will now boast a masquerade-style ball, set sleekly to the theme of “Garden Noir.” Four-legged friends will once again have their time among the flowers, with “Fido Friday” returning after a two-year hiatus.

In all, after two harried and uncertain years, when show officials often had to plan blindly on the fly, a “special energy and excitement” is attached to the run-up of the 2023 show, Schuchart said. Designers want their blooms to pop with an extra burst, she said — and show planners aim for that extra bit of guest engagement that can create a “lasting memory.”

Whether that extra oomph is needed to restore the show’s bottom line to health remains unclear.

Sin Gogolak, a spokesperson for the show, said officials will not release attendance data on the outdoor events since they differ so widely in size, scope, and programming from the Convention Center shows.

“It’s a homecoming celebration,” she said. “We want to go above and beyond what people already know the show is — and be the best version of ourselves in this celebratory year.”

While many guests came to enjoy the outdoor show’s improvised charms and natural splendors, there were initial stumbles with and endless logistical challenges. Show officials announced the decision to head back inside in June, only two days after wrapping up the 2022 show, after working closely with city health officials.

And now, as the first frost settles, the Flower Show, and its massive, immersive, indoor floral world, once again grows near.

On Friday, officials said they were excited to show artistic renderings of the layout for the 2023 show, which will incorporate popular design additions from the South Philly events, like a winding garden path to guided paths through the exhibit floor — and more natural seating clusters for guests to have places to sit among the flowers. (Show volunteers are always welcome, officials said.)

But most striking was the rendering for Grand Hall, the wide-open space off the exhibit rooms underutilized during past shows. Come March, it will serve as the Flower Show’s “activities hub,” Schuchart said, transformed into what planners say will be a bustling space filled with music, dining, and endless floral creation.

“This is the space where you can make things, where you can hang out and listen to music — and just linger,” Schuchart said. “That’s the lesson we learned from the outdoor shows — that’s what people were doing: They wanted to spend time and just be among the flowers and have a fun time.”

Tickets for the 2023 Flower Show: The Garden Electric, which runs from March 4-12, are on sale at PHSonline.org/the-flower-show. An introductory discount offer, featuring the show’s lowest and best prices, will be available until Dec. 31.