There's Something for Everyone at Floriade 2014

Inspired by the theme, Passion, Canberra's national award-winning spring festival Floriade returns in mid-September with more than one million blooms on display throughout Commonwealth Park.

Visitors will see the theme represented in garden beds, horticultural workshops, engaging demonstrations, children's entertainment and the ticketed twilight event, NightFest.

Floriade's programming will be divided into four themed weeks running from 13 September until 12 October.

The festival will kick off with Arts and Culture and visitors to Commonwealth Park can unearth the capital's most creative treasures. Discover your inner artist as you participate in a life drawing class, try your hand at zine-making and flower arranging or pick up an instrument and become a folk musician for the day.

Spoil your tastebuds and delight your palate as week two of Floriade focuses on Food and Wine. Sip some of the capital region's most prestigious wines, discover the scientific reasons our tastebuds experience certain flavours, sample a selection of the best local produce and try some bush foods that can be found in our own backyard.

Floriade promises hours of entertainment for children and adults alike as week three showcases all things Family Friendly. Discover what prehistoric life was like with dinosaurs and fossils, travel through outer space or become a giant as you stalk through a miniature village.

From spectacular garden beds to resourceful veggie patches and the capital's beautiful spring weather, Floriade is the perfect time to rediscover Outdoors and Adventure. During week four audiences can get up close and personal with nature, take part in sustainability workshops and grab gardening tips from experts in the field. Get active with Floriade's first ever outdoor boot camp and receive an education on some of the world's most endangered animals.

The festival atmosphere will continue after dark for five nights only as Commonwealth Park is transformed into an illuminated wonderland for the ticketed twilight event, Floriade NightFest (Wednesday, 24 September to Sunday, 28 September).

Now in its seventh year, the enchanting evening experience will offer fantastic food and wine, brilliant lighting designs and bustling night markets, as well as performances from world-renowned comedians, roving entertainers and more. NightFest tickets go on sale early August.

After exploring the gardens at Floriade, why not discover more about the Australian story in the capital's national attractions? Visit the National Gallery of Australia, home to more than 165,000 works including Australia's largest collection of Indigenous Australian artwork; celebrate the spirit of democracy at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House; or come face to face with the famous, the infamous and the sometimes forgotten icons of Australian history at the National Portrait Gallery.

Sample wines from the Canberra district at more than 30 boutique cellar doors within 35 minutes drive of the city or tempt your tastebuds in Canberra's premier dining precincts including NewActon, Braddon and the Kingston Foreshore.

Visit Tidbinbilla on the northern edge of the Australian Alps to see native animals in their natural surrounds, enjoy bushwalks, talk to rangers on a ranger guided tour and wander the Sanctuary wetlands or be brave and take part in an animal encounter at the National Zoo & Aquarium. And no family trip to Canberra is complete without experiencing the excitement of Questacon.

For more great holiday ideas and places to stay in the capital, visit www.visitcanberra.com.au