Bonsai Exhibition At Port Macquarie NSW

[SLR5000]

The Hastings Bonsai Group is holding their Annual Bonsai Exhibition on Friday 28th February, Saturday 1st March (from 10am to 5pm), and Sunday 2nd March (10am to 3pm).

The Hastings Bonsai Group was started by three enthusiast in March 2013 and held its first workshop/meeting in June 2013. We meet on the 2nd Saturday of each month at the Rotary Hall, Hastings River Drive, Port Macquarie NSW, from 10:00am to 3:00pm. We have 72 members in our group now.

At the exhibition, you will see arange of trees from our member's collections. We will have over 60 trees on display, plus an apprentice table, where our newest members who are just starting out, will display the trees that they have been working on over the past 8 months.

During our 3 day show, Ray and Clinton Nesci, from Sydney, will be carrying out morning and afternoon bonasi demonstrations on how to start out in bonsai. Ray and Clinton own a well established bonsai nursery, and will have a trade stand selling everything that you need for bonsai. This includes pre-bonsai and advanced bonsai trees.

We are asking the public to take part by voting for their favourite tree at the show, and there is a prize draw for a $50 Bunnings gift voucher for the winning name drawn.

Young children will have something to do too; we are running a competition where they have to find the skeleton incorporated in a bonsai. All correct entrants will have a chance to win a $30 toy shop voucher.

The Hastings Bonsai Group raises funds for the Westpac Helicopter Rescue Service.

Our group will be running a raffle during the exhibition, with first prize being the choice of a bonsai tree or a Bunnings garden hamper. Third prize is a Bunnings $50 gift voucher.

A photo of one of our workshops/meetings.

[SLR5000]

Well our first bonsai exhibition is well over now, sorry for the delay in putting up some photos of our 2014 Exhibition. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Lance
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Our first major 3 day Bonsai Exhibition, held last weekend at Port Macquarie Panthers was 'nothing less than one of the best Bonsai shows held on the north coast'. This was typical of the comments from members of other bonsai clubs that attended the exhibition: from Newcastle, Taree, Armidale, Coffs Harbour, and Sydney.

Port Macquarie is well known for a number of other major events and attractions, and we would like think that our Bonsai Exhibition will become a part of this.

The exhibition was the inspiration of three bonsai enthusiasts who formed the group in June 2013. During the 3 day show, we had a public attendance of 1,400 viewing over 150 bonsai trees on display.

The bonsai display included all styles of bonsai from forest plantings, trees growing on rocks and traditional bonsai. Prominent amongst the trees that created a lot of interest were the Japanese Black Pines, some up to 65 years old, and the Port Jackson Fig known as 'Old Man Fig' at 82 years old. There were a number of Junipers in all styles, with their dead wood painted white by using lime sulphur, which created a striking display.

Another area that created great interest was the Apprentice Display, where the newer members of the group displayed an additional 53 trees which they have been working on since joining the group.

The special bonsai demonstrations, carried out by the Nesci family from Dural, in Sydney, were very well attended by enthusiasts and interested persons alike, with all 50 seats taken up at each session. Some of the demonstrations lasted 45 to 60 minutes, but most were up to 90 minutes duration.

The sales tables proved quite popular with the public, with Nesci Bonsai, particularly, selling out of bonsai stock, and associated tools and supplies.

Plans are already well under way for our next exhibition, to be held in February 2015. Date still to be confirmed

Our group will be welcoming around 15 new members to our group this Saturday, at our March 8th workshop, where they will begin their bonsai journey.
This will take our membership to close to 90 members. The group also conducts mid-week workshops.

[Jason]

Sounds like it was a great turn out Lance! Great to hear, looks like it was a great show thankyou VERY much for sharing the pictures with us all

[SLR5000]

More photos of The Hastings Bonsai Exhibition held at Port Macquarie NSW in late February

[SLR5000]

This the last lot. Our next 3 day Exhibition will be held on 27th, 28th and the 1st March 2015
Might see you there. Lance posting.php?mode=reply&f=25&t=17286#"

[Boics]

Is it just me or has this club raised the bar in terms of vibe, presentation and photo quality?

Awesome job guys and girls an absolute pleasure to view.
Tack sharp photo's probably the best I've seen on this site.

Well done!

P.S. Loved the is it Neagari style Trident? And the 1089 Juniper were my faves.

[boom64]

Hi All at Port Macquarie. What a fantastic looking show. As Boics has stated , terrific photos of a beautiful collection of trees. Well Done , John.

[marleey73]

Lovely photos many thanks for posting. Always great to see Ray and Clinton Nesci supporting the shows. Looks like a good turn out in Port

[SLR5000]

Thank you for your positive comments. We are a very young group, but we are lucky to have some very talented bonsai enthusiasts in our group. We like the idea of holding 3 day exhibitions, as a lot of work goes into setting them up. Plans are well under way for our next exhibition in February, 2015. We will post some updates as we go.
If any forum members are up this way, we meet on the second Saturday of the month at the Rotary Hall, Hastings River Drive, Port Macquarie (it's where the Sunday markets are held).
Lance

[GavinG]

Good show, well presented and great numbers! It's a great way to get people started. I liked the radical sideways ?Deodar Cedar and the twin tree juniper. Not a lot of natives yet? Lillypillis and figs should grow like weeds up there, and there must be some local paperbarks….

Gavin

[Steven]

G'day Lance,

Great photography! Thanks
Looks like a really well run show that you should all be very proud of.

Regards,
Steven

[SLR5000]

Thank you Steve for your comments.
Plans are well under way for our 2nd exhibition, which will be held on the 27th-28th February and the 1st March 2015.

We will make sure we keep everyone informed, regarding our next exhibition.

Hastings Bonsai Group will be 1 year old this month (April) and we achieved quite a lot in that time. We have a membership of around 90 members now, with most members are doing bonsai for the first time.

We have 2 workshops planned this year, with demonstrators coming up from Sydney, in July and August.

If anyone is up in our region, you are quite welcome to drop into our workshops. We meet on the second Saturday of the month, from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

We also run one mid week workshop once a month as well. We meet at the Rotary Hall Hastings River Drive, Port Macquarie NSW, where the Sunday markets are held..

Lance