We have received the below information from the RHS
 
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2020 Floristry & Floral Design Competition


Dear NAFAS members,
The RHS Chelsea Team want to let you know of an exciting change that will be taking place at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2020.
We are delighted to announce that we are combining the Chelsea Florist / Young Florist of the Year, and Floral Arranger competitions.
This new area celebrating the beauty of floral design will be found in the Great Pavilion, where we are offering four themes, and two staging platforms to choose from.
The application process will be changing slightly from previous years and will open to all floral designers both amateur and professional. The application process will involve uploading a drawing of your design, a brief description, and photo(s) of your previous work. Exhibitors will be allocated on the merit of their application.
We wish you the best of luck in your application.

More details can be found by following these links.

https://view.publitas.com/rhs-2/cfs-floristry-why-exhibit/page/1

https://view.publitas.com/rhs-2/cfs20-floristry-competition-factsheet/page/1

​https://rhsforms.formstack.com/forms/cfs20_florist_competition_form

Note the closing date for applications is ​Friday 29 November

You may have seen posts on Facebook about the Chelsea Flower Show and whether there will be a flower arranging section or just "floristry".  The below clarification has been received from Steven Lane, NAFAS CEO

Have you seen your Flower Arranger magazine yet?  

Lots of great ideas for Christmas, many of which by Kent Area Designers.  Look out for designs by Helen Hare, Anne Luckett, Vicki Hodgkiss, Jacqui Arnold and Gill Smaggasgale which were all photographed in Jacqui's beautiful home.  

There is also a report about Robin's win of Designer of the Year.
​Happy reading!

In this the Diamond Anniversary of NAFAS, Kent Area were delighted to decorate the Queens Bathroom of Leeds Castle for their flower festival.  The design by Gill Smaggasgale was entitled "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend" and the diamond motif was repeated throughout the design.  Pam Hayward, Cecilia Sleap, Gill Smaggasgale and Jean Schofield spent two exhausting days creating the design using some fabulous flowers in the colour scheme of soft grey, soft lilac and soft pick and white with accents of blue in the bath and flame colours for the fire.

Pam made some exquisite jewellery to go with the dress Gill had made and shoes decorated by Cecilia which completed the idea of someone getting ready for a party.  Some photos of the finished design and a close up of the window and fireplace are below.  More photographs can be found on the gallery page

This fabulous YouTube video showcases the National Show from London.  A montage of really great photos will enable you to see all the prize winners up close and see Robin's designs again.

Kent Area of NAFAS is delighted to be decorating the Queen's Bathroom at Leeds Castle Festival of Flowers.  If you click on the link you will find more details of the festival which is open to the public from 14th to 19th September.  The room design is titled "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend" 

There were whoops of delight at prize-giving at the National Show when Sue Brinton (National President) announced that the winner of the Designer of the Year competition was none other than our own Robin White  The competition was run under the title "Timeless Beauty".   Robin had competed in three gruelling days of competition. 

On the first day, he created a pedestal and wall hanging inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh all under the watchful eyes of the visitors who all wanted to talk.  On the second day he created a fabulous petite and a still life in the same theme.  Five entrants were then told they were through to the last round which was an imposed class where all the components were provided by the organisers and the competitors had no prior knowledge.

Some pictures of Robin's designs are here - see also the Gallery

Gill Smaggasgale, Area Vice Chairman congratulating Robin White on winning Designer of the Year

Congratulations to Jacqui Arnold for providing a dazzling diamond demonstration at the National Show for the Diamond Anniversary.  

Congratulations to the eight members of Kent Area who took the plunge and entered the National Show.  Patricia Ellis achieved a Highly Commended in the Matrix imposed class, Anne Luckett achieved a Highly Commended in the craft class Embellished with Flair, Mig Kimpton was awarded Highly Commended in the class Shaped by Nature and Jacqui Arnold was awarded Commended in the class Double Decker.   Congratulations to all the award winners.

In addition, Mig Kimpton entered the pedestal class Time to Shine, Anne Luckett entered the imposed class "Aspects" and was accompanied by Cicely Finnis and Gill Smaggasgale, Zoe Hawkins entered the craft class "Embellished with Flair" and Verity Prior entered the petite class "A Little Luxury".  Although these did not get an award, they were beautiful designs and you all did us proud.

Pictures of Patricia and Anne's Highly Commended exhibits are here to whet your appetite.  All the entries can be found on the Gallery page
​

We are delighted to report that Pauline Pearce achieved a Highly Commended in the "Radiant Waters" class and Sue Shaw achieved a Commended in the "Glistening Frost" class of the National Photographic Competition.  There were 147 entries in Radiant Waters and 100 entries in Glistening Frost so they both did extremely well.  Visit the photography page under JDSE&P to see their fabulous photographs.

The Annual General Meeting of the Kent Area of NAFAS will take place on Wednesday 6th November 2019 at 10.30 at Ditton Community Centre Kiln Barn Rd, ME20 6AH 
Doors open at 9.45 – tea and coffee will be served
All members of affiliated clubs are welcome.  Please bring a packed lunch.  

The AGM will be followed by a demonstration by the Fabulous Gill McGregor entitled "Glitter Glamour & Flair".  The demonstration will start at 2pm.  Please be seated by 1.45.
Tickets £10 are available through your club or from Genista Spencer Tel: 01227 732008
or email genista.spencer@gmail.com.

See the What's On page for the poster! 

In the morning we were entertained by Judith Hibbert, who had us enthralled by her beautiful singing and laughing at her hilarious antics.
Francesca Barnes received warm thanks for all her and husband David’s hard work over the last six years as they are now retiring as Editors of our renowned Kent News publication - they will be sorely missed.
In the afternoon we were enchanted by Alice’s adventures in Wonderland under the imaginative interpretation by Lucy Ellis, NAFAS National Demonstrator and an area representative in a NAFAS Designer of the Year competition. 
Our thanks go to the Area Committee and all those Members who helped to make the day so special.
If you came along, we hope you enjoyed it, and if you weren’t able to join us today, we hope you can join us next time!

Some taster photos here but see the Gallery pages for more images

We chose ‘Time to Celebrate as the theme for the 2019 County Show Floral Art Competition. Wateringbury made a splendid floral diamond to celebrate 60 years of NAFAS. 29 competitors filled the marquee with 52 colourful arrangements, some large and some very small. It is always good to see new competitors each year especially when they win prizes.  For full report details and lots of photos see County Show page.  Pictured here is Iris Shaw being awarded the trophy for Best in Show