| The Daffodil Festival | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | 1926-present |
| Location(s) | Pierce County, Washington |
| Years active | 82 |
| Genre | Floral |
| Website | www.daffodilfestival.net |
The Daffodil Festival is a regional festival and parade held in Pierce County, Washington every April. It consists of a flower parade and a year-long pageant to select a festival queen from one of the area high schools.
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The Puyallup River valley, in which part of Tacoma, and all Puyallup, Sumner and Orting lie, has rich glacial soil. In 1925 the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended bulb growing to replace the decaying hops industry.
Soon, the trademark bulb fields sprung up, most notably Van Lierop's bulb farm in Puyallup, along Shaw Road. Daffodils and tulips became the best crops.
The Daffodil Festival was established in 1926 as an annual, formal garden party of Mr. And Mrs. Charles W. Orton in Orting. In 1934 the parade section of the festival was established, as a procession of automobiles decorated with daffodils.
The parade is a four-part sequence, traveling through Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner and Orting. The parade is held every year in April.
As of 2007, the participating high schools are: