moomins take over new york botanical garden to reconnect visitors with nature

Summer of Moomin places the Moomins in the New York Botanical Garden’s Everett Children’s Adventure Garden from May 23 through September 13, 2026. The seasonal activation translates Tove Jansson’s literary universe into outdoor installations across the garden’s pathways and plantings. Visitors are encouraged to slow down and spend more time outdoors together by wandering, following clue-based quests, and pausing among plants. The experience draws on the Moomins’ focus on small details such as changing weather, quiet moments, shared walks, and emotional closeness formed through nature. The program includes hands-on craft workshops and oversized character encounters, including The Mystery in Moominvalley, which guides children and families through the space like the wandering logic of the stories.

"The world of the Moomins expands into the gardens and pathways of the The New York Botanical Garden with Summer of Moomin, a seasonal activation that translates Tove Jansson's literary universe into a landscape of outdoor installations. Running from May 23rd through September 13th, 2026, the project lands at the Everett Children's Adventure Garden as part of NYBG's wider Flower Power exhibition."

"The project encourages visitors to slow down and spend more time outdoors together, whether wandering through the garden, following clues, or simply pausing among the plants and pathways. In many ways, that feeling has always been central to Tove Jansson's work. Beneath the eccentric creatures and adventurous plots, her stories pay close attention to the small things: changing weather, quiet moments, shared walks, and the emotional closeness that can grow when people experience nature side by side."

"Created by Finnish artist and writer Tove Jansson in 1945, the Moomins occupy a singular place in children's literature, bringing together whimsy with existential tenderness and attention to the natural world. Across novels, comics, illustrations, and later adaptations, Jansson built Moominvalley as a place full of curiosity, melancholy, adventure, and ecological awareness. In her stories, nature is a living emotional environment shaping the characters' relationships and rhythms of life."

"That sensibility informs the New York activation, which uses the existing landscape of the botanical garden. Visitors move through clue-based quests, hands-on craft workshops, and oversized character encounters. One of the central experiences, The Mystery in Moominvalley, encourages children and families to navigate the space, echoing the wandering logic of Jansson's books."

Read at designboom | architecture & design magazine