Beardshaw Adds International Expertise on Return Visit to RVBIGS 09

Chris Beardshaw, award winning garden designer and Riffa Views’ Landscape and Gardens Ambassador, is back in Bahrain to add international expertise to the Riffa Views Bahrain International Garden Show 2009 (RVBIGS 09) during his visit as Ambassador to the Show for the second consecutive year.

Chris arrived last Wednesday to oversee the final details of the set-up for the Riffa Views Eden Challenge Exhibits Stand. He will be attending all three days of the Show, with the aim of sharing his wide-ranging skills and experience alongside the many features that RVBIGS has to offer this year’s visitors.

Commenting as he toured the many stands on display at RVBIGS 09, he said “I am very enthused each time I return to Bahrain and see the progress that the Show is making. This time of the year sees the start of the major international garden and lifestyle show season and RVBIGS is ideally placed to continue to move forward and attain its aim of excelling on the international stage.”

Chris has been a driving force in the development of the Eden Challenge competition and is the Chairman of the Riffa Views Eden Challenge Adjudicating Panel that previously judged the four category winners, whose models have been built up as real life exhibits and are displayed on the Riffa Views Eden Challenge Exhibits Stand. With inputs from a number of areas, including the media’s rating, Chris along with Shaikha Maram bint Isa Al-Khalifa, Director of the BIGS Organising Committee, will judge and decide the 2009 Eden Challenge Overall Winning School.

Beardshaw sees the Eden Challenge competition as a very important element in the education of Bahrain’s younger generation, allowing them a greater understanding of and active involvement in their environment. Whilst the announcement will focus on the competition’s Overall Winner, he is keen to recognize all the schools who participated, “It is of particular importance to me that the efforts and skills of all students engaging with the Eden Challenge are celebrated, since these illustrate the extraordinary focus and talents of a generation on which there are increasing demands and expectations.”

The 2009 Eden Challenge Overall Winning School will be announced by Chris and Shaikha Maram on the Riffa Views Eden Challenge Exhibits Stand at 12 noon today – Saturday 18th of April. Students from all four category winning schools that are vying for the overall prize will be on the Stand for the announcement and are all very excited by the prospect of their school being awarded the top prize. The Overall Winning School will receive a cash prize of BD3,000 towards the school’s environmental resources and activities.

Following the announcement of the Overall Winning School, again on the Eden Challenge Exhibits Stand, Chris Beardshaw and Shaikha Maram will announce the winner of the Riffa Views’ award for ‘The Best Stand of RVBIGS 09’, together with the two runners-up. This award was introduced by Riffa Views at RVBIGS 2007, their first Show as Title Sponsor, with the aim of encouraging the exhibitors to strive each year for better stand designs and content. It is an initiative that has certainly worked as the standard of the Show’s exhibits has improved significantly and the award is very sought after by all exhibitors. In addition to the prestigious title of ‘Best Stand of RVBIGS 09’, the winning exhibitor will also receive a cash prize of USD5,000, with the 1st and 2nd runners-up exhibitors receiving cash prizes of USD3,000 and USD2,000 respectively
For Chris Beardshaw, the Bahrain International Garden Show has become an important and enjoyable focus for his undoubted talents. As he comments, “I have the good fortune to be involved in some of the top international garden and lifestyle exhibitions and shows around the world – after my visit to RVBIGS, I travel onto Japan for the Japanese International Garden Show and then back to the UK for the Chelsea Flower Show. All of these Shows are exceptional in their own right and RVBIGS is no different. I feel privileged to have an involvement with the Riffa Views Bahrain International Garden Show, a unique exhibition and demonstration of the most focused and relevant individuals and businesses in this field of expertise.”

2008 Garden Show, Simply the Best!

Wide Praise for its International Quality

It was announced today that the three-day gardening extravaganza, the Riffa Views Bahrain International Garden Show (RVBIGS) 2008, attracted a record number of visitors this year with well over 10,000 local, regional and international visitors coming through. Visitors were attracted by the extensive variety and caliber of exhibits as international exhibitors reached 50% of the total for the first time ever. Many foreign visitors commented on the true international quality of the show.

The show culminated with Riffa Views’ award of $10,000 to the most outstanding RVBIGS stand: “Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment & Wildlife.” The prize was presented by Shaikha Maram bint Isa bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa, Director of BIGS, Richard Browning, CEO of Riffa Views and Chris Beardshaw, Riffa Views’ Garden Ambassador.

“We selected the Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment & Wildlife stand since we considered it portrayed the essence of the Garden Show and the natural environment of Bahrain”, mentioned Mr. Beardshaw.

Such was the quality and creativity of the stands that four additional exhibitors were recognized as Highly Commendable:

• Royal Court
• Ministry of Municipalities
• Ministry of Education
• Riffa Views’ stands: The Riffa Views Eden Challenge Exhibits; The Riffa Views Showcase of
  Local Arts and Crafts; and The Bahrain International Golf Company stand.

Exhibition Gardens in creation

International participants including Riffa Views Garden Ambassador Chris Beardshaw raise exhibition profile

This year’s Riffa Views International Garden Show (RVBIGS) has attracted a record number of global exhibitors, with over 50 per cent of the total exhibition space being booked by international participants. This achievement has been realised as part of a long-term strategy adopted by the organisers and title sponsors Riffa Views.

In keeping with its commitment to continually raise the profile of the Garden Show, Riffa Views has introduced a whole new dimension for this year’s RVBIGS 08. Visitors can look forward to an impressive line-up of displays from the winning projects of the Eden Challenge competition together with an exciting Showcase of local arts & crafts.

In the run up to RVBIGS 2008, Riffa Views has been extremely active in promoting various RVBIGS-associated activities including the Riffa Views Eden Challenge, an environmentally-inspired competition for local schools whose winning entries will be on display at the Riffa Views Eden Challenge Exhibits’ stand. Chris Beardshaw, the award winning celebrity gardener and Riffa Views’ Ambassador, Landscape & Gardens, will be at the show along the three days. Chris’ participation at the exhibition involves a lecture on the topic: A Most Unique English Garden – The story of the discovery, restoration and rejuvenation of one of England’s most hidden gardens. During the Show he will conduct signing sessions of his book: “How does your garden Grow” and on Saturday, February 23 Chris will join BIGS Director, Shaikha Maram bint Isa bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa, to select the overall Eden Challenge winning stand whose school will be awarded a prize of BD 3,000.

Another highlight of the three-day event will be the Riffa Views Showcase of Local Arts & Crafts, where over 20 local artists and craftspeople will demonstrate their skills together with selections of their work. The participants will present their arts and crafts in an event that will give them incredibly broad exposure.

Richard Browning, Chief Executive Officer of Riffa Views, said: “As title sponsors, our aim is to make sure that Riffa Views’ participation at the Show has positive impact on the Kingdom’s wider community. We invited local artists and craftspeople to join us in a celebration of traditional talent that must be widely promoted for the future generations.”

“I hope that the Eden Challenge Exhibits Stand, the Riffa Views Showcase of Local Arts & Crafts and our Ambassador, Chris Beardshaw, will demonstrate the many ways in which a developer can make a valuable contribution to, and integrate into the local community. We have developed a deep affection for Bahrain and its people and this is a tremendous way of translating those feelings into actions.”

The show will run from 10am to 9 pm from the 22nd to the 24th of February.

« Previous Page — Next Page »