BY KRISTINA CIARI
LOOK FOR A NEW CELEBRATION AT THE ARBORETUM IN SPRING 2026!
For nearly 40 years, the Arboretum Foundation has hosted a fundraiser among the beautiful display gardens at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival. From the formal Opening Night Party to our most recent after-hours cocktail party, Botanic Bash, we brought our community together to celebrate and support the Washington Park Arboretum.
After careful consideration, we have made the decision to step back from Botanic Bash at the 2026 Northwest Flower & Garden Festival. We are deeply grateful to everyone who attended, sponsored, and supported this beloved event over the years. Your generosity has made a tremendous impact on core programs for science, horticulture, and education in the Arboretum and Seattle Japanese Garden.
Over the years, we’ve put on garden displays, made new friends, paraded around in our fanciest party wear, and danced the night away. These are all things we hope to continue in a new fashion at events closer to home. Keep your party clothes close at hand and look for new ways to party with our community and support the Arboretum in 2026.
In the meantime, consider becoming a member or making a donation to help us continue our vital work. To stay informed about upcoming events and announcements, sign up for our newsletter or follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram.
Questions? Please contact Events & Corporate Sponsorship Manager Tess Forte at tforte@arboretumfoundation.org.
Kristina Ciari is the Interim Communications Director for the Arboretum Foundation.
Thank You to the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival!
The Arboretum Foundation is grateful to the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival for its decades of generous partnership. In 1989, Duane Kelly launched the festival at the Convention Center, bringing five magical days of horticulture to our region in the doldrums of February. Duane also understood that a gala fundraiser at the festival would help rally the local horticultural community. To unite them around a common cause, he brought in the Arboretum Foundation, and our gala was born. Each year since, the Garden Festival—now run by Marketplace Events—helped us raise key funds to sustain the Washington Park Arboretum and its education programs. For information about this year’s Garden Festival, “Spring Parade,” visit gardenshow.com.
