GO Spring · Bloom — 17–26 October 2026 · free Family Day on Labour Day Tickets on sale 1 August →
Dunedin Botanic Garden — the historic winter-garden glasshouse nestled in the Town Belt

Four Seasons of the South

Ōtepoti — a city
that gardens all year round

Dunedin's garden festival, reborn — ten days in October, twenty-plus gardens, and a year-round celebration rooted in the southern soil.

Explore the seasons Become a Friend
Spring · Autumn · Winter · Summer
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Bearded irises in a Dunedin spring garden

Our Ambassador

"I'm thrilled to be the Ambassador for the Ōtepoti Garden Festival."

"Dunedin is a magnet for visitors — an iconic garden destination, a botanical centre of excellence, with three NZGT Gardens of International Significance."

Sophie Barker
Mayor of Dunedin & Festival Ambassador

Our story

Celebrating the gardens of Dunedin — at their best, in every light

Dunedin is one of the last regions in New Zealand without an official garden festival. The former Dunedin Rhododendron Festival proved the appetite — nearly 7,000 people, 25-plus open gardens — and that appetite never went away. Go Ōtepoti picks up that heritage and grows it across the whole turning year.

From the rhododendron dells and the country's oldest botanic garden to backyard plots and community māra, this is a festival built on a simple truth: the South grows something extraordinary. What began as a single spring celebration is becoming a year-round invitation — to wander, to learn, to grow, and to give back.

1863
the Dunedin Botanic Garden — New Zealand's oldest
3
Gardens of International Significance (NZ Gardens Trust)
4
seasons of the South, one connected festival
Est.
2026
A flush of pink rhododendron blooms — a signature of Dunedin's gardens Rhododendron — Dunedin

The signature

Four seasons of the South

Most festivals get one weekend a year. Ōtepoti gets four — each a distinct experience, rolling out from spring 2026 onward.

See the whole year →
Opens first GO Spring · Bloom

GO Spring

Bloom · Celebration of Gardens

17–26 October 2026

Ten days of open gardens, a Spring Garden Party, Rhododendron Day, Walks & Talks and a Labour Day family picnic.

Explore Spring
GO Autumn · Harvest

GO Autumn

Harvest · Resilient Communities

March – May 2027

The season of the table. Orchard fruit, kai provenance, harvest feasts and the story of where southern food comes from.

Explore Autumn
GO Winter · Wintergarden

GO Winter

Wintergarden · Renewal & Transformation

June – August 2028

Gardens after dark. Light, fire and stillness as the city marks Matariki and the southern sky returns to centre stage.

Explore Winter
GO Summer · Earth Rhythms

GO Summer

Earth Rhythms · Conservation & Wellness

January – February 2029

Long days, slow living. Conservation, wellbeing and the rhythms of the land at the height of the southern summer.

Explore Summer

A garden city

The South in colour

From heritage rhododendrons to spring drifts and high-summer borders — a glimpse of what Ōtepoti grows.

Pink tulips above a carpet of blue muscari
Spring drifts
A established Dunedin garden with rockery and subtropical planting
Heritage gardens
Bearded irises in bloom
Early summer
Tall blue delphiniums
Cottage borders
A thriving community garden
Community māra
An open garden ready to welcome visitors

Open Gardens

Ten gardens, one self-curated trail

Dunedin Open Gardens is a single curated trail of private and community gardens across the city and the peninsula. Rather than a fixed tour, you buy in and self-curate your own route over Labour Weekend — by region, by budget, on foot or by bike. Every garden is graded by an independent panel of respected local gardeners.

  • Platinum — a garden of national or international significance; the very top tier. $15 entry.
  • Gold — an outstanding garden well worth the trip. $10 entry.
  • Silver — an established, characterful garden. $5 entry.
  • Bronze — community and specialist gardens, free or by koha.

Curated by Dunedin Botanic Garden's Dylan Norfield, Wylde Willow's Fran Rawling, and Hereweka Gardens' Peter & Anna. Under-18s free with an adult.

Browse the trail → Open your garden

The Curators

The gardeners who grade the trail

Our open gardens are visited and graded by a panel of respected local gardeners. They give their time; in return we send visitors to their own gardens and businesses. Profiles in development

Curator

Dylan Norfield

Dunedin Botanic Garden · Chelsea medallist.

Curator

Fran Rawling

Wylde Willow Garden, Abbotsford.

Curator

Peter & Anna

Hereweka Garden, Otago Peninsula.

Volunteers working together at a community harvest

More than a festival

Every ticket plants something that lasts

Go Ōtepoti is delivered by the Taste Nature Social Enterprise Charitable Trust — a registered charity (CC59242). The festival is our front gate, but the work carries on all year.

What we raise goes back into the things that make a garden city thrive: community māra kai, garden education for tamariki, and keeping the South's heritage plants and places alive for the generations who'll garden here next.

  • Community food gardens & māra kai
  • Garden education for tamariki and schools
  • Heritage & heirloom seed conservation
Support the kaupapa Sponsor a seed

Friends of Ōtepoti

Join the garden, all year round

As Go Ōtepoti grows into a year-round festival, Friends will get unlimited entry, members' pricing and the warm feeling of funding the kaupapa. Membership opens as we scale — register your interest and you'll be first in. Launching as the festival grows

Seedling

$—

Annual · price TBC

  • Digital season guide, four times a year
  • Members' pricing in the garden shop
  • Member-only events & presales
Join
Most popular

Gardener

$—

Annual · price TBC

  • Everything in Seedling, plus…
  • Unlimited Open Gardens entry, all year
  • Printed seasonal journal, posted to you
  • Annual heritage-seed voucher
Become a Friend

Patron

$—

Annual · price TBC

  • Everything in Gardener, plus…
  • Guest pass — bring someone, every visit
  • Named supporter of the Foundation's work
Join

What's On

Workshops, walks & talks

A year-round programme of hands-in-the-soil learning. Full calendar coming soon

A garden talk over coffee
Spring · Talk

Designing for the South

Plant choices that love a Dunedin winter.

Dates TBC
A hands-on planting workshop
Workshop

Seed-saving 101

Keep heritage varieties alive in your own backyard.

Dates TBC
A guided garden walk
Guided walk

The Rhododendron Dells

A guided wander at peak bloom.

Dates TBC

Our Supporters

Grown together

Go Ōtepoti is made possible by partners who believe in a greener, more connected city — with the Dunedin City Council confirmed as a founding supporter. More partners joining

Dunedin City Council✓ Confirmed
Media partner
Principal partner
Supporting partner
Community partner
Become a partner