The International Flower Show at Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Riverfront has turned 14 but is the sparkle fading? Media reports claim that footfalls have been dropping over the years. The cost of setting up the show keeps climbing however.
In fact, ticket sales over the past three years haven’t even covered installation costs.
To lure more visitors, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) decided to extend the show by a week, now running until January 29, claimed reports. The “VIP slot” in the evenings, which once let visitors pay extra for early access, has been scrapped. Officials blame high ticket prices and traffic jams caused by long queues for the dip in attendance.
Numbers tell the story. Till January 18, over 2.5 lakh fewer people had visited compared to previous years. Footfalls fell from 9.06 lakh in 2024 to 6.52 lakh this year, across the same 18-day span.
A senior official associated with the AMC’s parks and gardens department told a media house that several factors were responsible for the decline this year and that, according to the feedback they had received, the main reasons could be traffic issues and the ticket price.
Even the busiest days (January 14 and 15, public holidays for Uttarayan) saw only 78,700 visitors, compared with over a lakh last year on January 14 alone.
This year, entry costs Rs 80 on weekdays and Rs 100 on weekends and public holidays. Free entry is available for children under 12, persons with disabilities, soldiers, and students of AMC-run schools. The night premium slot, earlier priced at Rs 500 for 10 pm–11 pm, has been cancelled. Morning VIP access remains, from 7 am to 8 am, with visiting hours from 8 am to 9 am.
Since 2013, when it first coincided with the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit, the flower show has grown from a decorated garden into a major thematic exhibition. Past editions featured sculptures of the new parliament building, Statue of Unity, Modhera Sun Temple, and even themes like ‘Good Governance’.
This year, the show is themed ‘Bharat Ek Gatha’ and cost Rs 17 crore to set up. Floral installations showcase India’s achievements from the upcoming bullet train and renewable energy to sports, space, and education.
The senior AMC official said that against the Rs 17 crore cost, the show had already earned around Rs 10 crore through ticketing, sponsorships, and stall rentals, and added that micro irrigation this year had helped reduce expenses, since water was usually the largest cost.
With the extension, footfall might rise but so will maintenance costs. Cut flowers, sourced from Pune and Kolkata, are replaced every three to four days, meaning the usual six rounds of replacement will increase to eight over 29 days.
The new schedule also keeps the show open till 10 pm, with ticket counters closing at 9 pm. Evening VIP access is gone, but morning VIP slots continue, from 7 am to 8 am, with visiting hours from 8 am to 9 am.
Also Read: Vibrant Ahmedabad Flower Show 2024 kicks off at Sabarmati Riverfront https://www.vibesofindia.com/vibrant-ahmedabad-flower-show-2024-kicks-off-at-sabarmati-riverfront/
