The Floral Festival was a weeklong series of events organised by the Palmerston North Public Relations Organisation between the 17th and 22nd of February 1958. The events were well attended, and many businesses got into the spirit of the occasion with floral themed window displays, quizzes, fashion shows and film festival showings. The event was topped off by the parade, attended by hundreds of people along the route.
On February 25th, the Manawatu Evening Standard published a picture of the float in the Square near the clocktower with the caption: "The World a Stage: Comedy and tragedy were both in evidence on the float entered in the festival procession by the Repertory Society. The entrants were dressed ready for the stage and proved to be popular with the people who lined the route on Saturday."
After the festival, The Standard reported (25 February 1958) "Many people have congratulated Mr Beckett [Public Relations Officer] and his assistant Miss B. Norman, on the success of the Floral Festival which brought to the city visitors from over a wide area. With the influx of these visitors trade in the local retail stores automatically quickened in tempo, and it would appear that the festival did much for Palmerston North."
