Trier sponsors State Garden Fair 2004 -Germany’s oldest town presents magic of elements through Oct. 24

***image1***Trier, the oldest town in Germany, opened the second State Garden Fair in Rheinland-Pfalz Thursday. The first state garden fair took place in 2000 in Kaiserslautern.
The state’s biggest event of the year continues through Oct. 24. Visitors can enjoy a variety of flowers and more than 3,000 performances.
“For the first time in the history of state garden fairs, we present a culture garden fair,” said Roman Schleimer, one of the two state garden fair managers. “We want to provide entertainment and information. The four themes —nature, history, sports and art — will play important roles.”
The fair is set up on a former French military area.
“We were able to create a colorful site with more than 100,000 plants in the flower beds on a 4,000 square meter area,” said Matthias Schmauder, the technical manager of the state garden fair. “With 16 flower hall shows and 11 theme gardens, we want to give visitors ideas for their own backyards.” More than 150 kinds of roses can be seen as well as a Japanese garden.
The motto of the fair is “The Magic of Elements.” Local artists use the four elements air, water, fire and earth to create sound installations. Also, the landscape architects used the four elements for their work and floral creations.
Every day of the fair through Oct. 24, shuttle busses leave from the Porta Nigra to take visitors up to the fair location on a hill above Trier called Petrisberg. Shuttle busses are free of charge.
Daily admission tickets to the State Garden Fair cost 11 EUR for adults and 6 EUR for children. For guided tours in English, call 01805-112004. Cost for the 1.5-hour tour is 55 EUR plus admission fee.
Visitors who buy a one-way train ticket to Trier can get their admission ticket stamped at the fair and travel back by train for free.
For more information on the State Garden Fair in Trier, check http://www.landesgartenschau-trier.de.