“Magic mountain” and urban gardens: Wels concept for the State Garden Show 2027

It is clear that the expansion of the Welser Volksgarten in 2027 calls for a celebration. It is not yet clear whether the rest of the federal state will also take part: the city has applied to the state of Upper Austria to organize the state horticultural show in 2027. Yesterday, Mayor Andreas Rabl and Deputy Mayor Christa Raggl-Mühlberger (both FP) presented the concept entitled “Garden Finds City” in the town hall. “With the show we would properly celebrate the new Volksgarten, which is a milestone for Wels,” said Rabl. In June, the state government will announce whether Wels or another applicant will be awarded the contract.

To create the concept, the city has recruited the landscape ecologist and designer Christoph Hauser, who has already accompanied the state garden shows in Vöcklabruck (2007), Ansfelden (2011) and Bad Ischl (2015) as managing director. He explains the motto: “The garden shows in Upper Austria have so far taken place in smaller communities, certainly not in a big city like Wels. This would make it the first truly urban garden show.”

Five main areas

The concept states three main goals: The show should be a destination for families, bring visitors into the city center and be an opening festival for the Volksgarten. The latter would be the centerpiece with show gardens; the focus there is on green spaces in urban areas. The Burggarten in the city center and the Tiergarten are also included. There are also “Traungartens” along the river bank on the Traun cycle path. These serve as a connection towards Thalheim. A “magic forest” with a hedge labyrinth is to be created there on part of the Reinberg site, which is owned by the city of Wels. The partial areas are connected with a circular path. In total, the garden show area would be 16.6 hectares in size.

The museums should also be involved: the city is proposing twelve exhibitions in the castle museum, where exotic plants could be shown or topics such as fair flower trade could be discussed. According to the concept, there will be an exhibition in Welios on the topic of “energy”, from the weather cycle to energy generation in technology. Possible locations for garden history projects are the Burggarten or the Marienwarte.

According to the concept, there are also events, a temporary stage, boat trips, a gastro zone and much more. That costs money: the city estimates the total costs at 24.6 million euros. The entire construction of the Volksgarten is priced at around 15 million euros, including the demolition of the exhibition halls and unsealing of the concrete areas. The estimated costs for implementation are around 5.5 million euros. The city is expecting around 7.2 million euros in state funding. “This would allow us to implement a number of things in the Volksgarten that we would not otherwise have done,” explains Rabl. A separate garden show GmbH will make the necessary preparations and organize the event from April 9, 2027 until the fall.

Access is partly subject to a charge

Access to some parts of the show – such as the themed gardens in the Volksgarten and the magic forest on the Reinberg – would be chargeable. According to Rabl, the prices would be based on other state garden shows. Next year in Schärding a ticket will cost 16.50 euros at the standard price. “But there are only parts of Reinberg and Volksgarten, the rest remains open to the general public,” says Raggl-Mühlberger.

When it comes to traffic, Christoph Hauser does not expect any problems despite the high number of visitors – 250,000 people came to the most recent state garden show in Aigen-Schlägl. “The majority comes on the weekend when there is no rush hour traffic in Wels,” explains the expert. Parking can be done at the trotting track and in the festival area, and there is also a connection to public transport with the Almtal station in the exhibition center.