Fiesta Botanica

Returning Spring 2019 (date TBA)

10am – 3pm

FREE

Horticulture enthusiasts, families, and lovers of all things Balboa Park congregate each year to celebrate spring amid the region’s most spectacular historical gardens at Fiesta Botanica—Celebrating Balboa Park’s Plants and Gardens. Coinciding with the anniversary of Balboa Park’s founding on May 26, 1868, the kid-friendly festival kicks off at 10am with a colorful Fiesta Botanica Wagon Parade along El Prado. The eventful day continues with horticultural-themed lectures and demonstrations, hands-on activities for kids, live entertainment, tours of the park’s historic gardens, majestic butterfly releases, and more.

The floral Wagon Parade is open to anyone who wishes to participate, and the best entrants, as determined by our judges, can even win a prize. The entry form for participation in the 2019 Fiesta Botanica Wagon Parade can be downloaded from this page in early 2019.

Community organizations are also invited to host activity and information booths that offer arts and crafts, demonstrations, educational programs and packets, and special displays that touch on the themes of gardening, the environment, conservation, and sustainability. The deadline for interested organizations to reserve a booth space for the next Fiesta Botanica is April 1, 2019.

Fiesta Botanica is presented by the Balboa Park Conservancy in partnership with the City of San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation and is enhanced by the participation of numerous garden clubs, park cultural institutions, and community groups.