Third annual New Brunswick Sunflower Festival draws large crowds to Salisbury

SALISBURY, N.B. -

Sunflowers come in all shapes, sizes, and colours, and for the third summer in a row, you can see just about all of the varieties at the Green Pig Country Market in Salisbury, N.B.

Green Pig Market co-owner and New Brunswick Sunflower Festival organizer, Dawn Corrigan, says her team started planting the 30 different kinds of flowers on June 1.

“It took about six weeks to get all the different varieties in so they’d all be blooming within the 10-day period at the festival,” says Corrigan.

Now, after weeks of waiting, nearly 250,000 blooms have taken over six acres of land.

Mani Grewal and her three sisters visited the festival on Thursday. Wearing matching outfits, purchased specifically for the festival, the siblings took turns posing for pictures at the different photo stations set up around the field.

“We’re going to post it on all social media; Instagram, Facebook and we’re going to show it to our family back home too. They’re always so excited to see stuff around, what we’re doing,” says Grewal.

Artist Sheila McPhee drove all the way from Fredericton Thursday morning to do a photoshoot among the flowers with a very fitting work of art. Earlier this year, she painted a picture of a vase filled with the bright yellow flowers and has taken it to different locations across the province to capture photos of her piece.

“Then I thought, well I’m just going to start putting it on social media and asking people, 'Well, where are Sheila’s sunflowers today I wonder,'" says McPhee.

Most of the visitors to the field of flowers were looking for the perfect picture, while others were simply enjoying the adventure.

Lewanna Nickerson made the trip from Saint John, N.B. with her mother and best friend.

“I love flowers, doesn’t matter what kind of flowers they are, so the sunflower festival was exciting for me because I just love flowers,” says Nickerson.

The festival has been the background for special moments this year as well.

Corrigan says she’s witnessed more than a few magical moments between the rows of picturesque plants.

“We’ve had a couple of special engagements happen and we had our first ever wedding; a couple from Saint John that got married here last Saturday evening,” Corrigan says.

The New Brunswick Sunflower Festival runs until August 29.