Scottish Bonsai Association to hold national exhibition in Broxburn on May 24

Broxburn is set to become the centre of Scotland’s bonsai scene on Sunday, May 24, when the Scottish Bonsai Association stages its National Exhibition at Strathbrock Community Education Centre, 189A West Main Street, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The association calls it Scotland’s biggest bonsai event of the year and the highlight of its bonsai calendar, a strong sign that this is the date local growers, club members and first-time visitors will want marked well ahead of time.

The show is being presented as a public exhibition rather than a closed club meeting, with applications now open for the Open Section. That matters because the Open Section is where the wider bonsai community gets its chance to put trees in front of an audience, alongside the work of Scottish Bonsai Association members who have spent months refining material for display. In a hobby built on slow, hands-on development, a national show like this becomes more than a one-day outing; it is a checkpoint for trees, styling decisions and the shared standards that shape the Scottish scene.

Admission is set at £3 for adults, with under-16s admitted free, according to the event listings carried by the UK Bonsai Association and the Federation of British Bonsai Societies. That pricing keeps the day open to casual visitors as well as dedicated enthusiasts, and the community-centre setting at Strathbrock gives the exhibition the kind of practical, approachable feel that makes bonsai easier to understand up close. Visitors can expect to see a concentrated display of trees, talk with association members and take in the range of work that makes a national show feel different from a club night.

The Scottish Bonsai Association says it is a member-led community that runs events for both members and non-members and meets regularly across Scotland. That wider remit helps explain why the Broxburn exhibition carries weight beyond a single venue: it is both a public showcase and a meeting point for a network that has been promoting and encouraging the art of bonsai since 1979.

Broxburn is not new to this role. The UK Bonsai Association’s archive notes that the 2024 National Exhibition was held there and was considered a success, with the venue proving a fitting home for a show meant to be visible, social and open to the public. With the same town now hosting the 2026 edition, the event looks less like a one-off and more like a fixture on the Scottish bonsai calendar.