Call for Proposals: 27th International Garden Festival

Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens, Grand-Métis, Québec

Drone view of the 2024 International Garden Festival. Photo: Jean-Christophe Lemay

Call for Proposals: 27th International Garden Festival

Submission Deadline: October 27, 5:00pm ET

The International Garden Festival has launched a call for proposals to select designers to create the new temporary gardens for the Festival’s 27th edition, which will open on June 20, 2026, on the site of Les Jardins de Métis | Reford Gardens.

2026 Theme: Mapping Sensitivity | Cartographier le sensible

In the wake of the triennial thematic cycle initiated this summer, Mapping Sensitivity pursues an ongoing reflection on the poetics of space—namely, how we relate to our physical surroundings and, more broadly, to the world. While Borders focused on the challenges of organising and representing geographical space, immediately raising geopolitical concerns, the theme of this 27th edition takes the tournant sensible [“the sensitive turn”]. It draws its inspiration from sensitive mapping, which, far more than a simple alternative to traditional cartography, is distinguished by its consideration of the subjective and immaterial dimensions of a place. Sensitive mapping thus traces the shared representations of a space that is described, lived and felt. It considers the real experience that users have of a given space and the emotional relationship they develop with it, considering cultural, phenomenological, experiential, cognitive and contextual factors.

For its 27th edition, the International Garden Festival invites designers from all backgrounds to design a garden using a sensitive, fundamentally inclusive and relational approach. At once real and fantasized, this garden will take on its full meaning thanks to the users who frequent it, shaping it in turn.

Project Requirements

Designers are invited to design a garden that can take place in one or other of the axes of the Festival. The artistic and technical committees of the Festival will identify, in collaboration with the designers, the site that will best showcase their project. Designers will be asked to imagine their garden for exhibition for at least two summers and to propose strategies for the repurposing or recycling of the garden or its materials after the end of its exhibition.

Eligibility

This call for proposals is open to all landscape architects, architects, visual artists and multidisciplinary teams from Canada and abroad. The Festival encourages participants to form multidisciplinary teams. Applicants are limited to one proposal, either as individuals or as a team. Participants can be from a single city or country or cross international boundaries.

Patrick Bérubé, Back / Ground, 2025. Photo: Jean-Christophe Lemay

Honoraria and Budget

The budget for the creation and construction of each garden is $27,000 CAD. This budget is divided in the following fashion:

• $7,000 CAD for the team’s honorarium, which is paid to the designers in two instalments;
• Up to $15,000 CAD for the purchase of materials necessary for the realization of the project (including engineering or other fees if required). This budget is managed jointly by the Festival and the designer(s);
• A team of Festival staff build each garden. The budget for labour is $5,000 CAD. This sum is managed by the Festival.

The Festival assumes for each garden, upon presentation of supporting invoices, the travel expenses up to:

• $1,000 CAD for Quebec-based designers;
• $2,000 CAD for designers from other Canadian provinces and territories;
• $3,000 CAD for designers coming from abroad.

Designers are encouraged to solicit donations or grants for materials or other expenses (travel, printed material, etc.) for the realization of their garden from arts councils, sponsors or private partners. The Festival offers a range of visibility for donors and sponsors depending on the magnitude of the contribution in cash or product.

Selection Process

The gardens will be selected by a jury on the basis of:

• The creative response to this year’s theme: Mapping Sensitivity;
• The originality of the concept and the innovative nature of the garden;
• The sensory and intellectual scope of the garden (user experience);
• The contribution to the field of garden art and to the diversification of landscape architecture practices;
• Rigorous research and critical approach;
• The constructability of the garden / feasibility of the project;
• The integration of sustainable design strategies.

During its deliberations, the jury will also consider, where applicable, the composition of the team involved, and any safety issues raised by the project.

All participants will receive the results of the competition by email. In addition to designers selected by this international call for proposals, the Festival may also select designers by invitation.

Simon Barrette, You Shall (Not) Pass, 2025. Photo: Jean-Christophe Lemay

Submission Requirements

The proposal (in French or English) must be sent electronically as 3 separate files:

1. 1 PDF (maximum 10 MB, 300 DPI and RGB mode), anonymously presenting the project;
2. 1 JPG image presenting the project;
3. 1 PDF file (maximum 5 MB) identifying the designer or design team. Please avoid compressing your texts or images to Bitmaps (BMP) in the PDF files.

For a detailed list of submission requirements, read our full guidelines.

All projects that were presented as part of our 26th edition can be viewed on our website. Previously submitted project proposals are also made available to all applicants.

How to Submit

Applications must be submitted electronically in English or French via our platform. To submit a proposal, you must first register.

Submission Deadline: October 27, 2025, 5:00pm ET

For additional information or questions, please contact:
Ève De Garie-Lamanque
Artistic Director | International Garden Festival
festival@jardinsdemetis.com

International Garden Festival
200 route 132, Grand-Métis, Québec, G0J 1Z0
www.internationalgardenfestival.com
festival@jardinsdemetis.com
+1 418-775-2222

Facebook @jardinsdemetis
Instagram @jardinsdemetis
LinkedIn @les-jardins-de-métis-reford-gardens

Accessibility:
The International Garden Festival is fully accessible. Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens partly accessible. They have received the Accessible rating from Kéroul. More information.

Image Descriptions:
1. A bird’s eye view of the contemporary gardens situated on the Festival’s north-south axis, with mixed forests on both sides and the St. Lawrence river in the background.
2. An angled shot of Patrick Bérubé’s Back / Ground. The art installation stands in front of a spruce forest and is composed of 3 schematic houses positioned on a grid-like pattern.
3. Simon Barrette’s in situ installation, titled You Shall (Not) Pass, evokes an oversized bead curtain. It hangs in the forest, above a wooden bridge and a stream.