MUSSELBURGH Flower Show is making a return after a break of two years due to the Covid pandemic with a new look and venue.

Eve Dickinson, president of the organiser, Musselburgh Horticultural Society (MHS), said that, instead of the “formal event” of previous years which was held at the Brunton Hall, a “complete change” was in store, with the emphasis on “community participation”.

The show will be held at St Michael’s Church Hall in Dalrymple Loan this Saturday, at 1pm.

Eve explained: “The decision to change our flower show was made for two reasons.

“Firstly, we wish our show to be local and inclusive, to offer the opportunity for local people to be involved and show off their gardening skills without having to compete with the experts.

“Secondly, MHS no longer has the man/woman power to stage a show such as was held in the past.

“Sadly, our committee and volunteers diminish as each year passes and we continue to look for new committee members to fill the breach.”

She added: “The traditional format of classes with displays of specialist grown flowers and plants has been replaced to create an inclusive family show.

“Our new show is aimed directly at encouraging community participation.

“Specialist growers may still enter but may find that our show no longer offers the prestige trophies or the historic kudos of an award at the Musselburgh Annual Flower Show.

“The format of points in classes has gone and with it the former associated trophies.

“Our 13 remaining trophies will be awarded for the best exhibit in each section. There will be no prize money but rosettes will be awarded in children’s classes.

“Our normal extra activities, such as free face painting, cake and candy, plant stall, tombola and raffle, have been extended to include more fun activities for children.”

Eve continued: “I think everyone is really positive about the new venue. Our plant sale there was a huge success.

“The number of classes has been reduced from over 200 to just 96. This will ensure that we have enough space and the kind of entries we would like.

“The 96 classes remaining have been restructured to make them attractive to local amateur gardeners.

“The deleted classes are, on the whole, classes heavily favoured by semi-professional growers.

“For example, there is now only one fuchsia class rather than 15.

“This means that entering the show for most semi-professional fuchsia growers is no longer worth their time.

“We really want to create a show to encourage people to show what they have been growing in their gardens and have a fun day with the family in the process.

“Our show may not have the wow factor of the past but it will mean that more amateur gardeners have the confidence to enter without feeling that they have no chance of winning against the experts.”

The show schedule and entry form are available at musselburghhorticulture.org.uk and online entry is recommended to avoid queues and missing out on being able to enter after 9.30am on Saturday.

From 9.15am, parking on site is only available for the committee, judges and volunteers.

There will be a drop-off point available for the elderly and disabled.