Pre-show promotional campaigns can promise much, only for the event to disappoint visitors when they attend.
GroundsFest is emphatically not such a case. Runup to the two-day spectacle raised expectations that this third year of the mixed outdoor/indoor show would see the biggest and best outing yet – and it delivered in spades.
I’ve attended more trade shows than I care to remember but here is a refreshingly different take – a veritable extravaganza blending machinery innovation, hands-on opportunities, stand pizzazz, education focus, sporting activity and music festival rolled into one heck of an industry mega fest.

Rapid expansion
The event’s speed of scale-up is impressive – reportedly 100 plus more exhibitors than last year – and Stoneleigh Park gives suppliers and visitors the space to breathe and the event the potential to expand still further.
In a sector populated by lovers of the outdoors, why not provide them with the environment they are most familiar and comfortable working in. Show organiser Fusion Media understands this and is serving up what the sector has sought for nearly 20 years – a single focus to draw together the strands of an extremely diverse industry.
An uplifting sense of optimism pervaded GroundsFest from early doors. Fine weather helped of course but the mood music was positive indoors too, where exhibitors in three halls enjoyed healthy footfall.
This was an event where the sector came out to play – and do business in a setting in which it had room to stretch itself. Within Stoneleigh’s expanses, the sounds of motor mowers roaring round a febrile arena and OPE revving up for demos throughout the day added impact without noisy intrusion.

Rising popularity
Show costs always weigh heavily with exhibitors, and my inquiries among large and small suppliers brought consistently positive reactions, a bell-weather boding well for the event’s journey of rising popularity.
GroundsFest does everything it says on the can, and plenty more to boot – a festival yes, but a show giving the industry the chance to celebrate everything that’s great about groundcare and landscaping.Every sector has its early adopters and those wanting to wait and see how new events shape up. For many, GroundsFest 2025 will have proven to be the tipping point in their commitment to the show, whether exhibiting or attending.

Next year could be truly transformative if feedback from 2025 is any measure.

Bring it on.

Greg Rhodes

Editor