June 14, 2011 – Organizers of The National Home Show and Canada Blooms: The Flower and Garden Festival, have signed an agreement that will see the two events take place side by side beginning next year at the Direct Energy Centre, creating the single largest home and garden experience in North America.
June 14, 2011 – Marketplace Events, organizers of The National Home Show and the Board of Directors of Canada Blooms: The Flower and Garden Festival, have signed an agreement that will see the two powerhouse events take place side by side beginning next year at the Direct Energy Centre, creating the single largest home and garden experience in North America.
“The idea for co-locating the events is a natural extension of our audience interests,” explained Tom Baugh, CEO of Marketplace Events. “Guests attending The National Home Show love the event but consistently tell us they want to see bigger and better gardens and floral displays. Guests attending Canada Blooms (virtually all homeowners) love their garden festival and will be thrilled in seeing its growth in stature under this new arrangement.”
“Putting these events side-by-side creates a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” said Gerry Ginsberg, General Manager of Canada Blooms. “We strongly believe this co-location will allow us to achieve a new standard of excellence and significantly enhance the customer experience for hundreds of thousands of garden and home enthusiasts throughout Ontario that visit these events each year.”
The agreement to co-locate is not a merger, nor is Marketplace Events purchasing Canada Blooms. Each event will maintain its own identity and operate separately, expanding into an impressive footprint of 600,000 square feet – Canada’s largest consumer event under one roof. Both shows will run for ten days, from March 16 – 25, 2012, at the Direct Energy Center in Toronto.
Canada Blooms, presented by The Home Depot, will create and expand their feature gardens and floral displays, but in the larger Hall A of the Direct Energy Centre. The Canada Blooms “Marketplace” will move into Heritage Court. The National Home Show, presented by RE/MAX will occupy the remainder of the exhibit space including Halls B, C, D, North Extension (Hall H) and the Industry Building (Hall G), where the innovative feature home will continue to be located, as well as the previously unused East Annex (Hall F). Ricoh Coliseum may also be used in future years as the two events expand.
The Marketplace Events team will sell all exhibit space within both events, including the Canada Blooms “Marketplace” while the Canada Blooms team will focus on creating the expanded feature gardens, garden educational programs and floral displays. Sponsorship will continue to be sold separately by each event although cross-over packages will be available for those interested in partnering for both events.
As a convenience to consumers, a single ticket purchased for either event will allow attendees to visit Canada Blooms, The National Home Show or both events. A recent audience survey confirmed that 47 per cent of respondents have attended both events in the past and 62 per cent indicated that the opportunity to see both events for one ticket price would make it more likely that they would attend. 41 per cent of respondents said they would be likely to purchase a two-day pass. Based on the survey results, two day passes and an all access pass, good all days of the events, will also be sold.
“The survey results, combined with already intense exhibitor interest, confirms the thinking by both groups that co-locating these events will create an exciting dynamic experience for our guests, our exhibitors and our respective organizations” said Baugh. “It’s a progressive move for the betterment of the GTA’s horticultural community,” added Ginsberg, “and a decision that will elevate the not-for-profit status of Canada Blooms.”
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