The Palmengarten starts the new year with a record number of visitors. The popular "Winter Lights" event attracted around 93,500 people over the past five weeks - more than ever before. "The continued success of the event speaks for the radiance of the Palmengarten", explained Tina Zapf-Rodríguez, Head of Climate and Environment. "Brightly glowing tulips in the middle of winter and red flames - a magical winter wonderland."
Record year for the Palm Garden
However, it is not only the Winter Lights that prove to be a crowd-puller: In total, over 651,000 people visited the Palmengarten last year - the highest number since 2014. In addition to four flower shows, the Plant Exchange and the Rose Festival, numerous other events such as the Late Summer Festival and more than forty concerts provided a varied program.
A particular highlight was the art exhibition "Playful? - Roulette with the insect and plant world". Here, 31 artists joined forces with students from Mannheim University of Applied Sciences and the SLInBio project network to explore the ecological significance of flowers and pollinators. "It was great to give our visitors new access to our main theme of 'flower and pollinator ecology' through art," said Palmengarten Director Katja Heubach. A visitor survey showed that around a third of respondents had learned something new about insects at the Palmengarten, while over 80 percent were already actively promoting insect conservation in their own gardens or on their balconies.
Outlook for the new year
The Palmengarten also has big plans for 2025: the new guiding theme "Garden of the Future" aims to raise awareness of sustainable garden concepts. The project starts this year and will continue at least until 2027.
Preparations for the new garden season are already underway: the spring flower show opens in the Galerie am Palmenhaus on February 6. All further information on the program can be found at www.palmengarten.de.
