Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens has enjoyed a boost of more than $80,000 following its annual Autumn Garden Weekend and Plant Fair.
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The event held on April 17-18 attracted a "steady stream of people" including international visitors.
Chairman and CEO Charlotte Webb OAM was surprised at the amount of attendees coming from beyond the Southern Highlands.
"It was the biggest interstate visitation, with people coming to NSW particularly for this event," she said.
There were also some overseas visitors, which took Charlotte by surprise.
"We even sold tickets to people from New Zealand and England, can you believe it?"
"We had people who had been caught over here from New Zealand, they've been here for a little while, and it's good that they are able to take their experience at our gardens back to their little corner of the world."
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Ms Webb said it was not only attendees who came from far and wide.
"We had a bunch of stallholders from Victoria which is good because they were nervous about border closures, and they've gone home with big smiles on their faces," she said.
"We also had some from Gloucester, and some from Sydney and from the Blue Mountains."
Charlotte said the success of the event, which is a major fundraiser for the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens, would not have been possible without the community.
"I don't think a lot of people realise, it took 155 volunteers to put the weekend on," she said.
"This included those who came to supervise the gate entries and doing COVID-safety check-ins so that it was an accessible event for all."
The not-for-profit SHBG board is also thankful for the private garden owners who accommodated last year's cancellation, and were determined to host the event this year.
The event was sponsored by YES events at Your Event Solutions.
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