Source : Perth Now news
Subiaco’s popular Mother’s Day flower festival Subi Blooms will return in 2027, with a $265,800 contract awarded to bring the colourful event back for another year.
The City of Subiaco council voted unanimously at its Tuesday night meeting to appoint Fox and Rabbit Premium Flowers, operating as Gather, to run next year’s event.
The company has run the event in 2025 and 2026.
The contract also includes an option for two further one-year extensions at the city’s discretion.
The multi award-winning event is a walkable trail of large-scale floral displays throughout the Subiaco town centre and has grown from a small place activation project in 2018 into one of the city’s major events.
More than 35,000 people attend the event each year, and according to city staff the festival generated about $1.46 million in economic benefits.
The city believes the event also has benefits for local suppliers, businesses and the wider community, while also helping attract people back into Subiaco.
Economic development and place manager Adam Cousins said the 2027 event had $300,000 allocated in the budget, as well as an additional $100,000 from the public art reserve to support larger ephemeral artwork — which the event has had for the past three years.
Extra funding will also be sought from Lotterywest.
The total cost is expected to be around $400,000, depending on marketing and other costs, with officers believing the event could be delivered in the budget.
The contract was reduced to $265,800 after city officers chose to remove public relations, marketing, media, printing and photography from the tendered scope, with the plan being for the city to manage those elements itself.
Elements including lighting for floral installations and a community hub were also removed from the scope.
Awards received for Subi Blooms include a 2025 Australia Event Awards Best Small Event WA State Award, gold at the 2025 Perth Airport WA Tourism Awards, and silver at the 2025 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.
The event will again be held around Mother’s Day, with more details about next year’s program to be announced later.
