49 Gardens Set to Join Garden Get-togethers

Luxembourg’s Ministry of Culture has confirmed that 49 historic and contemporary, private and public gardens will organise activities under the theme "the five Senses in the Garden," as part of this year's fifth edition of “Rendez-vous aux Jardins” (garden get-togethers).

Their goal is to encourage all audiences (newbies and experts alike, children and adults alike) to discover the Grand Duchy’s gardening heritage through guided and interactive tours, concerts, gastronomic experiences, workshops and even yoga sessions.

The Rendez-vous aux jardins will take place from Friday 31 May to Sunday 2 June 2024 and revolve around the theme “the five senses in the garden”. They are part of the Heritage in Nature (HEREIN) network initiated by the Council of Europe. In Europe, on the same date, thousands of parks and gardens open their doors to introduce people to green heritage and those who take care of it. Against a backdrop of climate emergency, the garden is more than a cultural and social place. It is a place of memory, a place of meditation, of tastings. It represents a resource for the planet’s renewal, the ministry stressed.

Of the five senses, sight seems the most impulsively solicited by the garden which is a domesticated, idealised landscape, a place perfected by human beings. It is full of colours. However, between birdsong and the rustling of tree leaves, the garden can be listened to as much as it can be admired. It blends into the music of a concert and becomes a full work of art. Fragrant flowers, aromatic herbs, scents of humus and damp earth after the rain... By judiciously combining all these elements, the garden becomes a real olfactory festival. The diversity of materials and textures of the garden also stimulate all facets of touch. The velvety feel of a rose petal, the caress of the moss of a tree trunk, the spiciness of a brambles: the tactile approach has therapeutic effects. Gardens nourish people and their fruits and vegetables delight the taste buds and create real gastronomic experiences. They represent a school of taste.

“The gardens are a bit like paradise regained. Discovering them in the framework shared with the member countries of the Council of Europe, expresses the desire, on the national and international levels, to recognise them as cultural heritage, to preserve, protect and transmit them to future generations,” explained Eric Thill, Luxembourg’s Minister of Culture.

For the first time, as part of the Rendez-vous aux jardins, the park of the Château de Berg will open its doors to the general public. LUGA is joining forces with the Rendez-vous with a discovery tour of the casemates and its special vintage. Several private and public historic gardens will lend their setting to concerts, popular festivals and yoga sessions. Others will open their plant collections, ponds, sculptures and labyrinths exceptionally to the general public. Market gardening and vegetarian catering will also be on the programme. A tactile element, the earth of the garden can be reworked into art objects inspired by flowers, leaves, and plants, as a visit to an artist's studio attests.

The full programme is available at http://www.jardinsluxembourg.lu or in printed format, available at the various tourist offices in the country, as well as at the Ministry of Culture.