The Isle of Man Flower Festival is ready to burst into bloom on Sunday (July 3).
The festival runs until Saturday, July 9, and a total of 19 venues are taking part this year.
A wide range of impressive displays will cover the theme of Supporting Achievement. Preparations have been taking place for months, all designed to delight visitors.
Some of the displays due to be unveiled in the coming week are set to really the capture the imagination.
Manx National Heritage is opening up the Old Grammar School in Castletown especially for the festival. It will have a pop-up display celebrating head teacher J. T. Whiksey, who encouraged many of his pupils to gain a scholarship to King William's College.
The festival is supported by Culture Vannin and Connect2Charity. Geoff Corkish MLC, the Culture Vannin vice-chairman described it as a 'tremendous community event'.
As ever, there will be a number of events staged at many of the venues to tie-in with this year's festival.
The increasingly popular Flower Festival Photography Competition is also taking place again.
Photographers are permitted to submit up to four digital entries that illustrate the theme of Supporting Achievement. Any photographs featuring people must be accompanied by their written consent. Entries from people of all ages are welcome, but people under 18 are asked to include their date of birth.
The deadline to submit entries is August 1 and they should be sent to flowerfestim@gmail.com. Full details of the photography competition are in the festival brochure and on the website www.flowerfest.im. They both also contain information on each of the venues, while the website will update with details of events being staged to tie in with the festival.
Much of the information can also be downloaded from the website in a printable format, for visitors to carry with them.
Venues may operate different opening hours, so check the programme or the website to find out full details.
The venues taking part this year are: St Stephen's Church, Sulby; St Bridget's Church, Bride; Bride Methodist Chapel; The Grove Museum, Ramsey (Manx National Heritage); Onchan Elim Church; Onchan Methodist Church; St Thomas' Church, Douglas; St Mary's of the Isle, Douglas; Kirk Braddan; Ballagarey Methodist Chapel, St Mark's; St Mark's Church, St Mark's; Kirk Malew; Old Grammar School, Castletown (MNH); Colby Methodist Church; Port St Mary Methodist Church (Mount Tabor); St James' Church, Dalby; Glen Maye Methodist Chapel; Holy Trinity, Patrick; The Cathedral, Peel.
Photo - This imaginative display at Jurby was a huge hit during last year's Flower Festival.
