Whether it was a birthday outing, a leisurely day in the spring sunshine with the kids or a weekend getaway, Floriade was a hit with punters on its opening day.
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Picture-perfect weather marked the start of the 2019 flower festival on Saturday, with no clouds in sight and barely a hint of a breeze as the temperature reached a pleasant 21 degrees.
Families were out in force, and 4-year-old Sienna Spackman summed up the cheerful vibe at the festival as she checked out a flower display and beamed while singing along to Queen's We Will Rock You, which an entertainer was playing nearby.
For Sienna's mum, Anna Morgan, the trip to Floriade doubled as a birthday outing and a chance to revisit an event she hadn't been to in a long while.
"It's my first time here in about 15 years," she said.
"I've been living in Melbourne but recently moved back to Canberra. It's a great day for it."
Queanbeyan residents Noa and Darren Le Roux were at the festival with children Rhea and Ruby, both 5, and Jade, 6.
"We come multiple times a year every year," Ms Le Roux said.
"The kids love it."
The children didn't hesitate when asked about their favourite part of Floriade.
"The ferris wheel!" they exclaimed one by one.
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Others, like Sydneysiders Hayden Buchanan and Cristina O'Gorman, came from further afield to see the flowers.
Mr Buchanan said they were in the capital for a weekend away, which friends had encouraged them to take at a time Floriade was on.
"It's really nice," he said after the pair posed for a picture inside a large floral wreath a short distance from the edge of Lake Burley Griffin.
"We're both from small country towns before we moved to Sydney, so [Floriade] has a really community feel to it that we're enjoying and it's really different to the Sydney sort of atmosphere."
Floriade is now in its 32nd year and is celebrating the world in flowers this time around, with each flower bed designed to reflect a different country as part of the 2019 "World in Bloom" theme.
The free event attracted 480,540 visitors last year. Nearly half of them came from interstate or overseas as the festival generated an estimated economic impact of $38.6 million.
The 2019 iteration of Floriade runs until Sunday, October 13, with the venue in Commonwealth Park open daily from 9.30am until 5.30pm, weather permitting.
There will be after-dark entertainment for four days starting on October 3, with acts including musicians The Veronicas and comedians Dave Hughes and Urzila Carlson to perform at this year's NightFest.
Floriade also has a presence beyond Commonwealth Park in 2019, with pop-up displays in different Canberra town centres on each of the five weekends the event is running. This weekend's community display was at the Gungahlin Town Square on Saturday.
