Tulip Festival
Tulip Festivals are held in several cities around the world, including a number in North America — most often cities with Dutch heritage — such as Albany (New York); Ottawa (Ontario); Gatineau (Quebec); Montreal (Quebec); Holland (Michigan); Lehi (Utah); Orange City (Iowa); Pella (Iowa); Mount Vernon (Washington); and Woodburn (Oregon), and in other countries such as Australia[1] and England. The tulips are considered a welcome harbinger of spring, and a tulip festival permits residents to see them at their best advantage. The festivals are also popular tourist attractions. The tulips are displayed throughout the cities. In certain years the peak of tulips does not coincide with the actual festival due to climatic conditions.
- The Tulip Festival of Albany, New York is set in Albany’s historic Washington Park. Each year, this traditional Albany event greets spring with thousands of tulips blooming in a myriad of colors and varieties. Thousands from across the Capital District and beyond come to Tulip Fest each May to celebrate Albany’s rich Dutch heritage.
- The Canadian Tulip Festival, which claims to be the world's largest tulip festival, is a major event held annually each May in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. During World War II, the Dutch Royal Family took refuge in Canada. Princess Margriet of the Netherlands was born at Ottawa Civic Hospital in 1943, and the Canadian government declared the land to be extraterritorial. This was done to ensure that the princess would have Dutch citizenship. Every year since, Queen Juliana and the royal family after her death have sent tulip bulbs for the festival.
- Belle Plaine, Kansas, home of the Bartlett Arboretum has held its Tulip Time Festival on the third weekend in April since 1986 with arts and craft, live music, carnival, and other fun and games. Belle Plaine used to be famous for having the most tulips planted in one spot in the USA.
- Fulton, Illinois's Dutch Days festival is held the first weekend of every May. It was first celebrated as an "Authentic Dutch Dinner" in 1974 by the local Christian school.
- Lehi, Utah's Thanksgiving Point hosts a tulip festival during April and May. The three weekend festival includes daffodils and tulips, garden tours, performances, and activities. One Friday and Saturday weekend includes Dutch Days with Dutch music, dance, and food.
- Lynden, Washington's Holland Days festival is held the first weekend of every May. The two day festival highlights the area's Dutch heritage with parades filled with flowers, traditional song and dance, and Dutch markets.
- Holland, Michigan's Tulip Time festival is the largest tulip festival in the United States. For more information, see Tulip Time.
- Orange City, Iowa's Tulip Festival is celebrated annually on the 3rd weekend in May is held dear by Orange City's inhabitants with a flower show, an evening performance of a Broadway play, afternoon and evening parades, and street dancing by old and young alike. The festival begins on Wednesday for the locals and continues through Saturday drawing over 150,000 people.
- Pella, Iowa's Tulip Time festival, also celebrated in early May, began in 1935 in celebration of the town's heritage. It is a three day event that features street washing parades, costumed wooden shoe dancers, wooden shoe carving demonstrations, street vendors selling poffertjes and an antique Dutch street organ.
- The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Washington has been held every April since 1983. Featuring dozens of tulip and daffodil fields as well as display gardens, gift shops, and tour activities, this festival attracts visitors of all ages.
- Woodburn, Oregon has been celebrating its Tulip Fest every year starting in March since 1986.
- Spalding (England) has an annual Tulip Parade that takes place on the first Saturday in May, and is a major tourist attraction, comprising a procession of floats on various themes, each decorated with tulip petals, a by-product of the bulb industry.
Origins
The tulip-festivals are being held in honour of the Dutch-American immigrants who brought the (then highly expensive) tulips to the Americas.
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