Radicepura Garden Fesitival | Gardens of Hope Cultivating Coexistence - Sicily

Presents a

CALL for IDEAS
SIXTH EDITION MAY - NOVEMBER 2027
Radicepura, Giarre (CT), Sicilia, Italia

Gardens of Hope
cultivating Coexistence

It is a place for human and botanical coexistence, where the slow rhythm of growth teaches us patience and harmony. A garden that uplifts the spirit and inspires optimism, a place where life feels possible even after hardship. A garden that is both a sanctuary and a classroom, where humans and plants truly live in dialogue rather than humans simply shaping nature. A place based on coexistence, not control.

What we expect to see:

Native plants, exotics and introduced hybrids coexist with wildlife habitats and gentle pathways for humans. The garden is designed to adapt naturally, letting plants guide human experience rather than the other way around.
Long-lived trees, perennial flowers, and layered plantings that unfold day by day, teaching visitors patience. Seasonal changes are highlighted—fallen leaves, sprouting bulbs, flowering cycles—so growth is experienced, not rushed. Benches or terraces that allow visitors to watch life unfold at its own pace, connecting human presence to natural rhythms. And, of course, water features. - Emanuela Rosa-Clot, artistic director of the Radicepura Garden Festival

In the first STEP, designers are invited to answer our call illustrating an idea and will be selected. Following this, there will be a further selection of those who can access the next step: shortlisted applicants will be asked to send a detailed project for the specific area assigned to them. Lastly, the eight winners of the final selection will be asked to realize their gardens in the Park of the Radicepure Biennal. Projects will be on show throughout the Festival, visited, experienced and studied by thousands of visitors, as well as photographers and journalists from the world over who will appreciate their quality and beauty.

Selection

The Radicepura Garden Festival is pleased to announce an international competition for garden designers of 8 temporary gardens. It is an international open call for ideas.

The Radicepura Garden Festival and the Radicepura Botanical Gardens

The Radicepura Botanical Gardens is the brainchild of the Faro Family who decided to make their botanical collection available: it was the result of fifty years’ work and aimed at safeguarding biodiversity, the real wealth of this area.
This has been the aim of the Radicepura Garden Festival ever since it started in 2017. It is the first major international event intended to promote the culture of Mediterranean gardens, involving the main players of landscaping, art & architecture, designers and scholars. The botanical journey includes rare and unique species such as Enchephalartos, a cycad genus of the Zamiaceae family, as well as permanent installations and gardens by François Abelanet, Paolo Pejrone, Michel Péna, Antonio Perazzi and Andy Sturgeon, in an exchange with the work by contemporary artists such as Emilio Isgrò, Alfio Bonanno and Adrian Paci. The park lies in the shadow of Mount Etna, where the rich soil has enabled over 3,000 plant species multiply, totaling over 5,000 varieties of plants. The park has 5 hectares of self supporting energy and water. The Palazzo of the Radicepura Foundation and the Palmento, a millstone used to make Etna wine, a jewel of industrial archaeology, and the set for The Godfather, part II. The green house (Serra) houses tropical plants such as the Ravenala madagascariensis and the Cyathea australis.

Requirements for Participation

Anyone with the expertise to plan create a garden: individual professionals or a team of emerging landscape architects, agronomists, garden designers, botanists, nursery experts & owners, planners, engineers, artists, curators. The Festival encourages multidisciplinary teams. The competition is also open to companies, associations, cooperatives, schools and universities.
Participants can not be over 36. Students may have an over-36 university tutor. Seven gardens will be created inside the Radicepura Botanical Gardens.
All participants or members of a group of designers can only make one application. Winners of previous Radicepura Garden Festival editions cannot apply.

Applications

Applicants will submit their projects according to the guided on line procedure emailed to them upon registration. Applications must be received by (no later than) October the 30th, 2026. Participation is free.

Selection

Selection will be a two-step process to identify winners.

STEP 1- IDEAS

Applicants will outline the idea underlying their garden design in a brief dossier in the form they choose: the project must include the garden concept with a title, a concise but exhaustive graphic project with a short text explaining by reference images and evocative sketches able to convey their vision. The Jury shall select the best projects. The shortlist will be drawn up for those taking part in Step 2. A specific area of the Festival will be assigned to them. They will have to finalize the project for the second step.

STEP 2 – SPATIAL POSITIONING

Designers shall locate their idea of a garden in the area assigned to them with an executive project, complete with technical drawings, construction details, project manager (aka developer) and planting plan, as well as costing estimates. Project costs shall not exceed €10,000, unless designers independently find sponsors to cover any costs in excess of the afore mentioned sum.
Gardens will be selected by a Jury of experts who will assess their technical and artistic qualities.

STEP 1

• A creative response to the 6th edition’s theme.
• Innovative, clear and consistent project proposal and its potential interaction with the public.
• The contribution of the project to garden art and culture and to innovation.

STEP 2

• Consistency of the design with the initial idea, feasibility and consistency with the assigned budget.

Step 1 participants shortlisted for Step 2 will be informed by email by 16th November 2026.

The 8 winning projects shall be created by the project team, guided and supervised by Radicepura staff members.

Further information is available contacting

• website: www.radicepurafestival.com
• email: [email protected]
• Phone: +39 095 964154

Deadline

Digital submission of project proposals:

STEP 1 deadline: October 30,2026

STEP 2 deadline: January 05, 2027

Project Space and Design Guidelines

Gardens will celebrate biodiversity, Mediterranean natural and anthropic (human) landscapes. They shall be original, innovative, attractive, usable so as to capture visitors’ attention highlighting their message and the idea underlying the project. Furthermore, since the gardens will also be accessible in the evening, we suggest including a lighting system as there will be several evening/night events during the Festival. The Festival lasts six months and so the evolution of the garden over time will also have to be considered reducing maintenance to a minimum, or alternatively supervising them in the event of additional work (on top of ordinary maintenance) is required.

The Festival encourages interaction with the public, an innovative approach with new ideas to support and develop a positive interaction among people, their cultures and the natural environment they live in, a shared relationship between human beings and Nature. The range of Mediterranean climate zones adn the complexity of the culture in the area offer a great variety of hints for creative ideas.

The nature of the soil and climate to be considered for the design to be in keeping: the soil is volcanic very rich in minerals, neutral to slightly acidic, fertile and with good drainage. The climate is generally mild, with very hot summers, with a peak of extremeheat in August, and equable winters. The area is windy in winter, with short Mediterranean storms between November and March.

Creating the Gardens

The Festival will carry out the actual construction of the temporary gardens. Site mangers and foremen/women will oversee the creation of each garde. The teams will consist of professionals, volunteers and interns. Gardens will be built from February and must absolutely be finished by the end of April. The Festival and staff will guarantee garden maintenance after the opening and throughout the festival. Designers must be on site to assist and work manually for the week of garden completion, and for the opening of the Festival between the end of April and the beginning of May. Designers who have elected to participate will work according to the Festival programme.

Special work, such as power connections and points – pumps, lights and the like -, machines and plants – such as tractors, ploughs – will be carried out with the help of the Radicepura staff. All participanting students will attend a Health and Safety Training Course provided for them, before working on site.

Festival gardens may be exhibited for more than one edition: designers will be required to update their garden after two or more years, through replanting. The Radicepura Garden Festival retains the right to change garden plants or to make other changes after the end of the Festival. Not all gardens will be kept beyond the 2027 edition.

Allocated Budget

€10,000 (ten thousand Euros) will be allocated to each selected project (person/group). The cost of materials should not exceed € 5,000.
To choose plants and get an estimate of costs, you can consult the Piante Faro Catalogue, with a 50% discount at the following link:
https://www.piantefaro.com/piante-faro-catalogue.pdf

In the event of the Budget not covering all costs and if the project interests the Artistic Jury, participants can:

1) Add one’s own Sponsor who can:

• send materials
• subject to a prearranged agreement with those building the project, may proceed with the section not covered by the budget as set by the present call.

2) the designer may pay the balance directly to those building the project, subject to an economic agreement:

• every garden can be partly or wholly sponsored by one or more
• the Festival offers many visibility opportunities to donors and sponsors, according to the size of their contribution or of donated products/materials

Gardenia Prize

At the conclusion of the 6th edition of the Radicepura Garden Festival, the garden best developed in the course of the six months of the event will be awarded the Gardenia Prize, a special recognition by the garden magazine.

This year, we unveil new visions and a structural evolution for the festival. The transition of the Artistic Direction is rooted in continuity with the extraordinary work of Antonio Perazzi, a visionary landscape architect and dear friend of the festival, who will continue to collaborate with us in a new capacity. Our mission is to keep the garden at the center of the global cultural debate as a blueprint for coexistence. I am grateful to Emanuela Rosa-Clot for her insight into the dialogue between humans and the botanical world, proving that synergy is the only path to a livable future, - Mario Faro, Founder of the Biennial and CEO of Piante Faro.