Show & Festival Site Report

Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire

Festival International des Jardins

Authors: Bennis

1: Key Facts

Name: Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire International Garden Festival Show Category: show , installation art, chateau, historic buildings Location: Chaumont-sur-Loire, (between Tours and Blois) Venue: Chateau of Chaumont-sur-Loire; N152/D751 Gross Floor Area: 75 hectares of parkland (garden show site smaller) Dates: 24 April-2 November 2014 Origins: 1992 Theme: Gardens of the 7Deadly Sins Opening Times: April-August 10.00-19.00 Sept 10.00-18.30 Oct-Nov 10.00-18.00 Ticket Prices: Tour of the International Garden Festival  Entrance ticket: 12,00 €  Reduced fee1 : 7,50 €  Children between 6 and 11: 5,00 €  Free entrance for under 6’s With this ticket you can visit the International Garden Festival, Goualoup Park and Historical Park. It does not give you access to the Château, Stables or some contemporary art exhibitions and installations.

Tour of the Domaine With the Domaine ticket, you can visit the whole of Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire: International Garden Festival, Château, Stables, Historical Park, Goualoup Park and all of its contemporary art exhibitions and installations.

 Entrance ticket: 16,00 €  Reduced fee1: 11,00 €  Children between 6 and 11: 5,50 €  Free entrance for under 6’s

1 Reduced fee for children 12-18; students upon presentation of card 2. Visitor Facts (2013)

(information requested, but no reply) Number of Visitors: Age Groups: Private Visitors: Professional Visitors: Reasons for Attendance: Visitor Assessment: Origin of Local Visitors: Home/Garden Ownership: Intention to invest in a garden:

3. Exhibitor Facts (information requested, but no reply) Total Number of Exhibitors: 23 exhibition gardens Main Exhibitor Goals and Attainment: Rating ‘good’ to ‘very good’ Ratings of Target Visitor Groups Market Positioning

4: Location & Facilities

Chaumont-sur-Loire lies about 185km south of , between Tours and Blois in the Loire Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Chaumont means ‘bald hill’). The chateau, 15th-19th century, sits on a promontory 40 meters above the River Loire and is owned and managed by Région Centre since 2007. It is accessible from the N152 and the D751 (the map on the web site does not open). The nearest train station is Onzain/Chaumont-sur-Loire.

There is a free car park at the south entrance, suitable for disabled access. There is on road parking at the East entrance, not suitable for disabled access, due to the steep slope up to the chateau.

There are full facilities on site with restaurants, shops, toilets, baby changing facilities, push chair parking, cloakroom, car parking, information point. Payment by card or cash. There are free printed guide materials in French, German, Italian and English for the garden festival and chateau. There are free guided tours of the garden festival in French and English, reservations advised.

There is a well-developed website in ten languages and there is a multi-media guide in ten languages for the chateau (4€ supplement). The site states clearly areas suitable for disabled access.

5: Exhibitions & Show Gardens

The whole site can be dived into fiveexhibition areas:

 The Chateau (there are modern art installations on the upper floors)  The Historic Grounds which has a range of installations in an English parkland landscape  Stables and coach houses/farm buildings has temporary and permanent exhibitions including wood, lithographs, paintings, digital art  Prés de Goualoup has temporary/seasonal sculptural installations in a more natural landscape setting  International Garden Festival has 24 exhibition gardens on this years theme The 7 Deadly Sins

6: Associated/Parallel Events

Goualoup Parkin the domaine has permanent gardens on display covering 25 acres (10 hectares).

‘Gardens by Night’: gardens are specially lit for evening visits to the garden festival, except Friday, from 22.00-24.00. 1 July-31 August

Next to the Festival, the Valley of the Mists (Vallon des Brumes), the Vegetable Garden, the Children’s Garden and some of the flowerbeds offer the public permanent experimental gardens that change with the passing seasons. 7:Awards

There are no awards for the festival gardens.

8: Exhibitor Terms & Conditions http://www.domaine-chaumont.fr/en_concours_index?cat=2 Information is available through the web site. It is necessary to register and supply a VAT number to access this information

Exhibitors to the International Garden Festival are restricted to professional landscape architects, landscape gardeners, architects and students on recongnised professional courses.

9: Exhibitor Contracts

As No 8 above 10: Show History

Almost 580 gardens have been produced since the show started in 1992. It has developed an international reputation for pushing the boundaries of garden and landscape design with a strong art and cultural base. Landscape architects, landscape gardeners and architects, individually or as teams, produce often topical gardens based on a new theme each year. http://www.domaine-chaumont.fr/en_festival_festival-visite gives an inter-active map with the names and photos of all of the exhibition gardens as well as the art installations in both parkland areas. There is a distinguished international panel responsible for selection and approval of the designs, as well as the art installations on the estate. The panel’s president is William Christie Harpsichordist, a world-renowned conductor, musicologist and teacher.

11: Marketing

Although requested, no information was received; however, the show has a well-known international reputation amongst professionals. There is a log-in for the press on their web site and excellent information on the current and previous shows.

Information leaflets are readily available at all tourist information offices as well as hotels, many restaurants and public facilities. There are extensive links to organisations that sponsor the project so the assumption is that there is also marketing through them. One would also assume that there is good TV coverage as the exhibits are all visually appealing.

There are links magazines as official supporters who also support some of the designs: L’Art des Jardins (in English & French), L’Ami des Jardins et de la Maison, Elle Maison, Professional journals publish articles on the show such as Àvivre, Extérieurs Design, and foreign journals such as the Garden Design Journal.

The website contains video interviews covering several years with the landscape designers and the artists. There are also still photographs of the projects.

12: Site Photographs

Photos 1-3: Photos above are the East Entrance which as a long and steep walk up to the chateau. Photo to the left, is the view back to the South Entrance. This has better car parking facilities and is suitable for disabled access.

Photo 4-5: Promontoire sur la Loire by Tadashi Kawamata is the first installation from the East Entrance. This is in the historic parkland and is included in the normal admission to the Domaine.

Photo 6: The East Entrance is to the bottom left of the map; the chateau is located along the bottom of the map slightly right of centre. A long walk leads from the entrance to the chateau, and the historic parkland is the area above the walk. The converted stables and coach houses lie to the centre of the map with the exhibition gardens to the right. Top right is the area known as Prés de Goualoup which has art installations in a more natural landscape setting.

Photo 7: Mail de tilleus, or the tillia or lime tree mall, is a quadruple row of lime trees which connect the chateau to the Promontoire sur la Loire. Known to exist in 1699, the trees were in a dangerous condition and have been heavily cut back in order to save them.

Photo 8: Modern flower beds in a blue and white colour scheme link the chateau and the converted stable buildings.

Photo 9: Routes are well marked with modern signage in French and English

Photo 10-13: The converted buildings form a courtyard with a central water feature and tree sculpture. Various exhibits take place in the buildings; some are permanent features while others form a seasonal exhibition.

Photo 14-15: An informal lunch area with toilets and gift shop nearby. The open structure, top right, is used for group presentations, children displays and tourist information. There is a more formal restaurant near here. The International Festival of Gardens and the Prés de Goualoup are a short distance beyond this area. Photo 16: The theme –Jardin Des Péchés Capitaux-or Gardens of the Seven Deadly Sins has provided a strong theme which has been widely interpreted. All of the gardens have a detailed explanation of a particular ‘sin’ and how it has been interpreted (see photo 17). The panels are standard and in French and English

Photo 17-20: ‘Le Jardin de poules’ is a fable about the sins of pride and envy; the hens represent humans, and humans are divinities. Hens live to the right on the deadly sins, while Eden is to the left with plenty of food……The garden is particularly popular with children. Photo 21: ‘Green without greed’ is a parody on the American lawn and waste. The lawn is entirely artificial. By Katherine Leise at Kansas State University

Photo 22-24: ‘Quand l’avare rêve’ is the story of a miser who is obsessed with hoarding. The garden draws you in as does the obsession with having material objects.

Photo 25: ‘Le domaine de Narcisse’ is a garden of vanity where a gilt edged mirror reflects an image; based on Narcissus who fell in love with his own image.

One of the very few gardens that allows the view of the chateau to be included. The chateau is not reflected in the mirror.

Photo 26-28: ‘Paradigme’ is a ‘free interpretation of ‘The Chart of Hell’ commissioned by Lorenzo di Medici. The route to hell is via the seven deadly sins; one of the few gardens to use text in the garden to name the sins

Photo 29: The 24 gardens are divided from each other with planting as visual barriers. The main walks are also planted so that the gardens cannot be seen until you arrive at them.

Photo 30: ‘Le jardin mis en boît’ addresses over consumption, greed, gluttony and waste with the used of discarded catering size tin cans as planters.

Photo 31-33: ‘Le jardin déchêné’ is based on the poem ‘The Oak and the Reed’ and explores the sin of pride and a route through metal hoops representing segments of the oak. The garden is hidden from view so the visitor is drawn into the garden.

Photo 34-36: ‘Bloom’ is about the richness of flowers that produce a ‘gluttony of red’ in the middle that cannot not be reached. The feast is in the middle, but unattainable.

Note the red globe in the phot to the left which is for night lighting.

Photo 37: ‘Le purgatoire’ is a slow journey of repentance to the centre which has giant cups to sit within and reflect.

Photo 38-40: ‘Parcours initiatique allégorie aquatic des 7 péchés capitaux’ is an aquatic allegory based on the writings of Thomas Watley and Jean- Jacques Rousseau. The waterfall represents anger, lust by the grotto, pride by a mirror, gluttony by the fountain above based on the Bocca della Verità.

The structure in the photo to the left is the confessional.

Photo 41: ‘Mont Tongaris’ on the north island of New Zealand

Photo 42: ‘La balance’ calls for us to achieve a balance within our personal lives.

The narrow platforms move slightly like a see-saw and are popular with children.

Photo 43-44: entrance to the Prés de Goualoup with sculpture installations in a more natural landscape setting. Admission is included in the ticket price for the festival gardens.

Photo 45-46: permanent art installations are in the English landscape park. Admission is included within the general admission tickets.

13: Organisation and Contacts

Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire 41150 Chaumont-sur-Loire Tel: +33 (0)254 209 922 Fax: =33 (0)254 209 924 [email protected]

14: Sponsorship

 Owned and funded by: Région Centre  Part-funded by: French Culture and Communication Ministry (Centre Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs/DRAC)  Preferential support by: Phillips, Truffaut, Citéos  Additional partners: SCNF, Premier Tech, SUEZ environment  Media partners: France Bleu, Radio Vinci 107.7, La Nouvelle Républic  Media sponsors which also sponsored a garden: Prima, L’Art des Jardins , L’Ami des Jardins et de la Maison, Mon Jardin et Mon Maison, À vivre, Extérieurs Design,

15: Economic Impact

Information requested, no reply

16: Interviews

Requested, no reply

17: Summary & Conclusions

17.1 Location & General:

Located between Tours and Blois, it is in a major tourist area for visiting the renowned chateaus and gardens of the Loire Valley. The area is heavily marketed by the regional and national government, although most posters and adverts feature the better known chateaus of the region. Accessibility is mostly by private car and through coaches run by tour companies; public transport is difficult throughout the area as the chateaus are spread out over a large area. Well sign posted along the roadways, the East Entrance is obvious but parking is difficult while alternative parking at the South Entrance is not well marked. There are well designed entrance pavilions for tickets and information with multi-lingual staff.

The chateau sits on a high promontory giving outstanding views over the Loire. The multiple areas and types of exhibitions as well as the chateau makes this a potential full day visit. The entire area is very well maintained and signs for the various areas are clear and easy to follow.

There is no sense of a ‘hard sell’ in that there are two gift shops, one in the chateau and one near the exhibition gardens. A small kiosk has sandwiches and drinks, while there is a larger and more expensive restaurant.

17.2 Exhibitions:

 An excellent web site explains the exhibitions, the background to the show, video interviews with landscape designers and artists  Also contains information, photos and interviews of previous shows  Particularly useful for pre-visit information for the serious minded, but a good follow up to a visit for most people  An excellent detailed guide book of the gardens is available to purchase  Exhibition gardens are well maintained and each has an information panel in French and English  Guided tours in French and English are available but need to be pre-booked  Each garden has a good backdrop of planting, a few with distant views of the Loire or the chateau  There are wide paths through the exhibition area and lush planting that hide the gardens from immediate view.  Reasonable amount of seating is available although not much shade for hot days  There is a good variety of garden types and styles

17.3 Issues:

 Only minor issues such as notice for upper car park is not clear  Additional seating outside of eating areas would be helpful