Longwood Gardens Announces Record Attendance

Press Release

Kennett Square, PA – Longwood Gardens, one of the great gardens of the world and the most visited public garden in America, today announced record attendance of 1,530,237 visitors for fiscal year 2017 (October 1, 2016-September 20, 2017), representing a 15.7% increase over the previous year.

“We are thrilled to achieve this record attendance,” said Paul B. Redman, Longwood Gardens President and CEO, “yet we are ever mindful of the role we play in our community and in our world beyond the numbers – providing a place of beauty, a place of learning, and a place of legacy and stewardship. Our investment in the preservation of our historic Main Fountain Garden and our free virtual field trips offered to schools across the nation are just two examples of the diverse work we do to fulfill our mission,” Redman said.

After an extensive multi-year revitalization, the Main Fountain Garden returned in May with a season of celebration featuring fountain performances, concerts, and special events. The newly revitalized Main Fountain Garden has attracted more than 609,000 guests to Longwood and received rave reviews since returning on May 27. In September, Longwood Gardens announced that its Main Fountain Garden performances will be extended through October 31.

Since 2006, Longwood has nearly doubled its visitation and grown its membership support from 17,000 to 64,000 households. In addition, Longwood continues the mission set forth by Mr. du Pont to inspire people through excellence in garden design, horticulture, education, and the arts. Longwood offers a breadth of mission programming that includes exhibitions, musical performances, renowned horticulture education programs, horticulture research, environmental stewardship, and cultural and community engagement. Since 1958, thousands of students from all over the world have participated in one or more of Longwood’s intensive education programs, ranging from internships to the two-year Professional Gardener Program to the Longwood Fellows Program. Graduates have gone on to leadership roles in many of the country’s top horticultural institutions.

About Longwood Gardens
In 1906, industrialist Pierre du Pont (1870-1954) purchased a small farm near Kennett Square, PA, to save a collection of historic trees from being sold for lumber. Today, Longwood Gardens is one of the world’s great horticultural displays, encompassing 1,100 acres of dazzling gardens, woodlands, meadows, fountains, 10,010-pipe Aeolian organ and grand conservatory. Longwood continues the mission set forth by Mr. du Pont to inspire people through excellence in garden design, horticulture, education and the performing arts, through programming that includes exhibitions, musical performances by leading artists, renowned horticulture education programs, horticulture research, environmental stewardship and community engagement. Longwood is one of more than 30 gardens in the Philadelphia region known as America’s Garden Capital. For more information, visit longwoodgardens.org.