Republic Day flower show generates whopping  ₹1.97 crore revenue

The 11-day affair, which was inaugurated on January 20, also saw the highest footfall on January 26 with around 77,000 visitors

Designed around the theme of ‘History of Bengaluru’, this year’s Republic Day flower show in Lalbagh Botanical Garden concluded on Monday with a record revenue of ₹1.97 crore.

According to officials of the Horticulture Department, this revenue is the highest of all time for Republic Day flower shows and the visitors’ numbers which came up to 3.3 lakh was also one of the highest footfall ever. 

The 11-day affair, which was inaugurated on January 20, saw the highest visitors on January 26 at 77,000. Along with flower installations of iconic structures and landmarks of Bengaluru, there was also an exhibition depicting the history of Bengaluru with numerous artefacts near the Glass House. 

The Independence Day flower show in 2022 had recorded over 8 lakh visitors. However, officials said that the footfall for Republic Day show was always lesser than Independence Day shows. “This has always been the trend. By the time the Republic Day show is organised, the examination season begins and hence most parents do not bring their children to the show,” said Jagadeesh M., Joint Director (Parks and Gardens), Horticulture Department. 

While the total revenue generated in the 2020 Republic Day flower show was ₹1.16 crore, this year’s revenue surpassed that. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the previous two years, flower shows were not held for Republic Day. 

Several NGOs, along with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) marshals and Horticulture Department officials took measures to ensure that this year’s flower show will be litter, plastic, and spitting-free.  

Odette Katrak, co-founder of Beautiful Bengaluru whose volunteers were involved in the campaign, said, “This year through constant announcements, confiscation of single-use plastic bags as well as non-woven polypropylene (NWPP) bags from vendors accompanied by penalties, confiscation of mineral water bottles at the entry and fines for spitting, Lalbagh remained clean during the flower show. We hope that this continues into the future flower shows as well as the regular days in Lalbagh.”