For its 19^th edition, the International Garden Festival is having some fun. Fun for the designers – but mostly fun for visitors. The Festival continues its exploration of play with Playsages II – Go Outside and Play! Landscape architects, architects, artists and designers from across Canada and around the world responded to our call for proposals to imagine creative spaces.

Seven new projects offer imaginative spaces where families can congregate and play together all summer. Jump into a canoe to traverse a pond. Choose your own column for a photo op. Leap skyward above the walls of a corn maze. Ascend the vertical cliffs of a metallic Percé Rock. Take a spin on a forested carrousel. Caress the samara of the iconic maple. You can even make your own garden by assembling a lean-to of colourful sticks. Go outside and play – and have some fun!y responding to our growing distance and alienation from the natural world with a defiant invitation to re-think outdoor spaces. Go Outside and Play! is a call to action

We spend less time outdoors and when outside we often observe the natural world with an electronic device in our hands. We mask the sounds of the surrounding environment with ear buds. We distance ourselves from experiencing nature by cocooning ourselves in our isolation. How can we make change happen? These new installations will join the six playsages created for 2017 edition of the Festival to offer a vast playground of designed spaces.

The new gardens selected by the jury for the 2018 edition that are on display are:

aMAIZEing by Marta Milà Pascual, architect & landscape architect and Marc Torrellas Arnedo, architect – Barcelona, Spain

L’origine de la colonne by Josep Congost and Louis Sicard, architects and artists – Valencia, Spain

La ligne de 100 ans by Hatem+D [Étienne Bernier, architect, Marianne Charbonneau, architect, Mélanie Dereymez, intern in architecture, Théo Jarrand, intern in architecture and Steeven Bérubé, 3D artist] – Québec (Québec) Canada

Le rocher très percé by Humà Design [Stéphanie Cardinal, designer, Olivier Laplante-Goulet multidisciplinary designer and Lorelei L’Affeter, artiste] and Vincent Lemay, landscape architect – Montréal (Québec) Canada

Les hélicoptères by Carson Isenor, landscape designer and Anna Thomas, MLA candidate – Vancouver (British Columbia) Canada

Carousel by ISO [Nuala O’Donnell, intern architect, Maxwell Schnutgen, intern architect and Etienne Issa, architectural designer] – Vancouver (British Columbia) Canada

Assemble by Katie Strang, landscape designer, Christine Dewancker, artist and carpenter and Craig Van Ravens, architectural designer – Toronto (Ontario) Canada

The 2018 Festival is also presenting extra-mural installations in Montreal, Quebec City and in public venues near to the gardens:

Roof Line Garden by Julia Jamrozik, Coryn Kempster (Buffalo, United States) on the rooftop of the Musée de la civilisation in Quebec City.

Champs de mémoire by Dominique Blain (Montreal, Quebec), Canada on the place De La Dauversière in Old Montréal, in collaboration with the Château Ramezay – Museum and historic site of Montreal

Souvent me souviens by Deborah Nagan, London, United Kingdom, in Ste-Flavie

Bascule by Cédule 40, Saguenay (Quebec), Canada, in Mont-Joli

Fundraising Dinner
The Festival will hold its annual fundraising dinner under the stars on Friday, August 3. Chef Pierre-Olivier Ferry will offer a menu of vegetables grown on site and local produce served on a banqueting table in the gardens. Book your place on our website or contact us at 418 775-2222.

Festival la Grand Table
The Grande Table culinary festival (September 14 to 17) is an event that celebrates Quebec’s culinary and landscape heritage. The Festival seeks to bring everyone to the table, the chef’s table, gastronomic table and the kitchen table. Participants are given a unique opportunity to watch chefs at work and question their work and culinary approach. The 2018 program includes the Grandes Tables luncheons, twinning food and landscapes, a Sunday brunch with chef Colombe St-Pierre, an exhibition by producers and food producers and activities for families. Desjardins is offering free admission for its members on Sunday, September 17. For more information: lagrandetable.tv

About the International Garden Festival
The International Garden Festival is the leading contemporary garden festival in North America. Since its inception in 2000, more than 175 gardens have been exhibited at Grand-Métis and as extra-mural projects in Canada and around the world. Presented at Les Jardins de Métis, at the gateway to the Gaspé Peninsula, the Festival is held on a site adjacent to the historic gardens created by Elsie Reford,
thereby establishing a bridge between history and modernity, and a dialogue between conservation, tradition and innovation. Each year the Festival exhibits conceptual gardens created by more than seventy architects, landscape architects and designers from various disciplines in a pristine environment on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. The International Garden Festival is presented with the financial assistance of many public and private partners: Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Emploi-Québec, Emplois d’été Canada and the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec. Hydro-Québec has been the lead sponsor of the Reford Gardens since 1999 and presenter of The Right Tree in the Right Place garden by NIPpaysage.

About the Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens
A National Historic Site and Québec heritage site, the Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens are an obligatory stop for all those visiting eastern Québec. Cultural space and tourist destination for over 55 years, the Reford Gardens is one of the most popular attractions in the Gaspésie region, providing visitors with experiences for every sense. Located on the banks of the St. Lawrence and Mitis rivers, they were created between 1926 and 1958 by avid gardener and plant collector, Elsie Reford. Hydro-Québec has been the lead sponsor of the Reford Gardens since 1999.

The gardens are open every day until Sunday, October 7, 2018. Children 13 and under are admitted free of charge. Consult www.refordgardens.com for more information.