Zilker Gardens, situated in Austin, Texas, held their annual Zilkerfest on March 25, 2017. This is one of their big moneymakers that helps to defray the cost of maintaining Zilker Botanical Gardens as the City of Austin only finances a part of that cost.

Zilkerfest comprises mainly of individual and mostly garden related small time retailers who spend their time travelling the circuit of these types of shows. Most of them have been here before. There are also other booths set up by the local Garden Organizations that claim Zilker Gardens to be their base all belonging to AAGC, (Austin Area Garden Council). You can find out more about the 31 different organizations that make up the Council at this link.

As it happens, this show coincided with the Grand Opening of the Stream Project which consists of a major rebuild to a lower length of the existing (man made) stream that runs from the top of  the hill to the bottom  finishing up in one of the ponds at the lower end. This had been leaking for some time and was badly in need of repair. The Austin Pond Society donated $5000.00 towards the cost of the renovation and it was only fitting that they had their booth set up next to the new renovation.

The local model train enthusiasts had their tracks set up and had at least two trains running at the same time with others pulled off into the siding. They were located next to the main building. The trains are very realistic with smoke bellowing out of the stack and the wail of the whistle which by itself conjures up memories of times long gone.

It was a beautiful day and many people came out to purchase plants and other items of interest. Some came for the Food Court which had several interesting food trailers including a local brewery. Those that were partaking of their wares were serenaded musically by local groups.

Below is a slideshow of some of the beauty of Zilker Botanical Gardens

The Beauty of Zilker Gardens 2017 from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.

Below is a slideshow of the many vendors who helped to make this event such a huge success.

ZilkerFest Booths March 25, 2017 from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.