The 2026 Gloucester Daffodil Show will be held from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 29, during the annual Gloucester Daffodil Festival.
The show will be held at Newington Baptist Church, 6169 Main Street, Gloucester. Admission is free.
This year’s show will follow the Daffodil Festival theme “Anchored in Tradition” and include Horticulture, Photography and Artistic Design divisions.
Over 100 daffodil growers, photographers and judges will be in attendance, according to a press release, including many traveling from outside of Virginia. Last year’s show was the largest in the U.S., with 2,775 daffodil stems, 164 photographs, and 24 artistic entries. Gloucester Daffodil Show Chair Carla Stanley said she believes this show will be bigger than ever, with at least 3,000 daffodils stems exhibited.
The show will again include the Gloucester High School Duke Award, with daffodils celebrating school colors; the Bubba White Boots Award, with white daffodils; and the Historic Rosewell Award, with daffodils from 1700-1799, the Rosewell era.
The Gloucester Daffodil Club Award will also be offered again this year and is open to current Gloucester Daffodil Club members regardless of residency.
Added to the show for 2026 is the Gloucester Daffodil Club Service Award, which will recognize an individual for outstanding dedication and service to the Gloucester Daffodil Show and daffodil community. The recipient will be chosen by a committee and awarded a one-of-a-kind perpetual trophy. This trophy, a forged daffodil, was created and donated by Gloucester Daffodil Club member Deborah Brooks.
The Main Street Awards will also be part of the show. Gloucester Main Street residents and businesses are invited to display daffodils in their yard or place of business and be recognized during the Daffodil Festival. Awards include Best In-Ground Planting, Best Container Planting, Best Decorated Door, Best Decorated Window, and Most Creative Design Featuring Daffodils. Registration for the Main Street Awards is not necessary, and judging will take place the morning of Thursday, March 26.
Signs will be placed in front of the award winners’ homes and businesses after judging and will remain throughout the Daffodil Festival weekend.
The Gloucester Daffodil Show is a signature event of the 2026 Gloucester Daffodil Festival and is sponsored by Gloucester Parks, Recreation and Tourism and sanctioned by the American Daffodil Society. Liberty Live Church is the Gloucester Daffodil Festival Show Sponsor for the second year.
Anyone interested in learning how to show daffodils is invited to attend the Gloucester Daffodil Club’s free preparation workshop. It will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, at Brent and Becky’s Bulbs, 6900 Daffodil Lane, Gloucester. Brent Heath of Brent and Becky’s will be available to identify daffodils that attendees bring in from their gardens.
For more information about the workshop, contact Katherine Mazzocco at katherinemazzocco@gmail.com.
Registration and more information about entering daffodils, photographs or arrangements in the Gloucester Daffodil Show and workshop registration can be found on the Gloucester Daffodil Club’s website (gloucesterdaffodilclub.com) and the Daffodil Festival website (daffodilfestivalva.org).