On his arrival, the Administrator was greeted by little children attired in colourful dresses. He then declared the festival open by cutting the ribbon of the huge flower-bedecked gate at the entrance of the Rose Garden, which welcomed the visitors with huge pictures of Rose and the Rose Garden.

The chief guest, along with other dignitaries, then visited the enclosure having the winning entries of the flower and plant arrangement competitions and evinced keen interest in the displays. The aesthetically displayed arrangements were also keenly witnessed by the chief guest's wife, Rama Chhibber and brother Maj Gen R.N. Chhibber (retd), besides UT Adviser Jagdish Sagar, CHB and CITCO chairperson Meenakshi Dutta Ghosh, Home Secretary Anuradha Gupta and Finance Secretary G. Vajralingam and other UT officials.

The chief guest then heard the tunes of pipe and brass bands from Chandigarh Police, Himachal Pradesh Police, CRPF, Pinjore and Haryana Home Guards, who also took part in the band competition on Raag Basant Bahaar and Raag Bahaar.

They were later entertained by folk artists arranged by NZCC who performed along the zig-zag paths of the Rose Garden. The Federation of Migrant Groups from North Western India (Now Pakistan) also presented folk dances by various ethnic groups of Parachinar, North West Frontier Province, which included the Chhej dance of Bhawalpur, Jhimmer dance of Multan and Gatka dance of Jhang. The Administrator got so carried away with the Pathan dance by Pathans from Chamba, that he himself joined in, much to the delight of the audience as his family-members noticed his steps joining with the dancing pathans.

Later, school children and college girls presented a colourful cultural programme, where Government College for Girls started with the invocation, followed by an Assamese dance by Government College for Girls, Sector 42 and Punjabi dance by Government Polytechnic for Women, Sector 10. The Adviser also presented a memento to the chief guest.

The Rose Garden also presented a feast for the visitors who went around the 200-odd stalls put up on the occasion, making available all kinds of snacks and goods, besides a lot of entertainment games stalls.

The Festival would continue up to Sunday, as the public awaits the Rose Prince and Rose Princess contests scheduled tomorrow, which will be inaugurated by the first lady Rama Chhibber. A seminar on Landscaping and Horticulture will also be held tomorrow at the Government Museum in Sector 10.

This being the third Festival of Gardens, it is the 27th such festival in the series which was earlier known as the Rose Festival.