The Encinitas Garden Festival is an all-volunteer event that started as an initiative of the City of Encinitas’ Cultural Tourism committee. More than 700 people attended the first festival, in May 2005. Thirty-one residents in a neighborhood near downtown Encinitas opened their gardens for the sell-out event. In April 2006, 1200 people toured more than 20 fantastic gardens in north Leucadia.

The Encinitas Garden Festival features self-guided walking tours of private gardens, a Gardeners’ Marketplace offering all sorts of garden-related products including plants, tools, and garden art, and more. It also includes several educational exhibits that teach visitors about gardening, the local watershed, the environment, and other important issues.

The Encinitas Garden Festival is funded by a number of community organizations, local businesses and ticket sales.

In 2007, the Encinitas Garden Festival joined the Coastal Community Foundation to form the Encinitas Garden Festival Fund. Monies donated to the fund are invested back into the community in the form of grants to school gardens, public landscape projects, books for Encinitas libraries and more.

Encinitas Garden Festival May 3rd, 2008 - 10 am to 4 pm