What began as a local celebration of Indiana’s state flower has become something much bigger: a destination event that shows how flowers can connect consumers, businesses and an entire community.
After severe storms forced organizers to postpone this year’s Indiana Peony Festival from May 16 to May 17, thousands still packed downtown Noblesville, Indiana, for the event’s sixth year. The festival now regularly draws an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 attendees, according to festival organizers.
Held in and around Seminary Park, the free festival stretches into Noblesville’s downtown square, turning the city into an immersive floral experience. Visitors can shop more than 150 vendors selling bouquets, cut flowers, peony plants, apparel, jewelry, art, food and drinks, while also exploring large-scale floral installations, live music, photo backdrops and peony-themed promotions throughout downtown.
For floral professionals, the festival offers a compelling example of how flowers can drive tourism, retail traffic and consumer engagement far beyond traditional floral holidays.
Festival founder Kelly McVay said the idea started nearly 20 years ago after she began growing peonies herself and realized how little people knew about Indiana’s state flower. “We just needed to celebrate it,” McVay said.
What she imagined as “this sweet little, local festival” quickly grew into a regional attraction.
Part of the event’s appeal is that flowers are woven into the entire downtown experience. During festival weekend, visitors can follow the Indiana Peony Trail and Passport through parks, businesses and public spaces filled with peony plantings and displays.
The community buy-in is visible everywhere. Local merchants create peony-themed window displays, restaurants offer specialty drinks and menu items, and retailers carry festival-specific merchandise.
That community spirit is part of what keeps floral manufacturer Syndicate Sales — headquartered not far away in Kokomo, Indiana — invested in the event, said Kelvin Frye, the company’s director of strategic partnerships and industry relations. Frye said sponsoring the festival is the company’s way of thanking the state, floral community and flower enthusiasts who have supported both its products and the industry for 80 years.
“It is an absolute joy to watch close to 40,000 people honor our state flower with such happiness, camaraderie, and curiosity,” he said.
McVay said one of the most meaningful outcomes has been seeing how much consumers now understand and appreciate flowers. “The knowledge base of peonies is just crazy around here,” she said. “Everybody knows their lemon chiffons, they know, you know, their Bartzellas.”
That familiarity translates into demand. McVay said more residents are planting peonies, buying bouquets and incorporating flowers into everyday life.
The festival also gives consumers direct access to flower farmers and floral designers in a casual, highly visual environment. Visitors travel from hours away to experience the displays and shop from growers and designers they might never otherwise encounter.
Kevin O’Malley, who works at the Indianapolis DV Flora branch (formerly Marvin’s Flowers), said the most rewarding part is watching attendees leave with flowers. “We want people to take home flowers because we know what flowers do for people,” O’Malley said.
That may be the festival’s biggest lesson for the floral industry: consumers respond when flowers become an experience they can walk through, photograph, shop, share and remember — especially when an entire community embraces the idea alongside them.
Amanda Jedlinsky is the senior director of content and communications for the Society of American Florists.