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About this Web Site

The Garden Festival of Wales web site is strickly non-commercial and is operational under the terms that no money is made. It is purely an informational web site and is funded by myself.

This web site, launched in May 2007 (celebrating 15 years since the opening of the Garden Festival) was created and is maintained by Mathew Parker from Ebbw Vale.

The Aim of the Site
This site aims to keep the spirit and memories of the Garden Festival Wales alive. After an amazing event lasting only 5 months finished, the Garden Festival site was transformed into the Festival Park, Ebbw Vale - but at the same time, destroying the spirit it generated.

The Garden Festival created many jobs, many smiles, many happy memories, only to end with a bang - literally. Once the festival finished, it was demolished with many of the features there being moved to new homes (See After the Festival).

Why a Web Site?
The web site was created by myself (Mathew). I spent many hours volunteering in the Festival Park Owl Sanctuary, which is located in the old woodlands area of the Garden Festival. While helping out there, I noticed the lack of care to many of the features, and slowly watched them become overgrown and abused. Being only 1 year old when the Garden Festival happened, it made me wonder - why Ebbw Vale? Why a small town in South Wales? After this, the idea really died, until I noticed a photograph of the festival on a wall in school (Ebbw Vale Comprehensive School). After studying this photo in my free time, I realised what a great event it must have been.

It occured to me that there wasn't such thing as a central resource of all the information of the Garden Festival Wales, and after reading articles in the Gwent Gazette by pupils from England doing projects on this area, due to this event, it made me realise how I could help make this site, and make the first known central resource.

This web site helps me realise what made Ebbw Vale - Ebbw Vale. I hope it will expand due to the public (who may I add has been a brilliant help since the official launch!), by contributing photographs, videos and memories, to make this site the largest, best, and only central resource for the Garden Festival Wales.