Garden of five senses Tourism festival
This is the time of year when Delhi is in full bloom with a riot of colourful flowers. The 37th Garden Tourism Festival at the Garden of Five Senses, Said-ul-Ajaib, was held from the 21st to the 23rd
of February 2025. Like each year, it attracted huge crowds who came to enjoy the variety of plants, the sweet fragrance, and the unique floral arrangements. The garden is spread over 20 acres.
Like every year, my friend and I visited the place. Something that we had observed in the past as well as this time was the lack of any map of the park with layout and directions, to help the visitors find their way around, understand where things are, and navigate, to be able to see all the exhibits. This also ensured that movement was smooth and orderly. There were no arrow signs and no description of what kind of plants one could see in each zone of the park. The footfall was high and there was utter chaos. People were simply running around the place like headless chickens. That is not how such exhibitions and fairs are supposed to be. No efforts had been made to guide the visitors.
For a plant lover like my friend, the constant thought was whether we had seen all the exhibits, hopefully, we hadn’t missed out on something that she would hear about from another visitor, who perhaps took a different route around the park or something that gets mentioned in the newspaper but then there was no way to find out. We just went around led by our instincts.
There were stalls set up for people to buy plants and stuff related to gardening. Again, there was no signage about it. We asked a few people and then a security guard showed us the way.
All that is needed for such exhibitions are maps, directions, signages and descriptions prominently placed all over the area. Crowd management is essential to make the experience enjoyable, smooth and safe.
