This month marked the 60th anniversary of the Canadian Tulip Festival! Yes, there is such a festival and, no, I hadn’t heard of it until a recent visit to Ottawa.
But, each May the capital city is blanketed with over three million beautiful tulips.
From Parliament Hill to Commissioners Park (home to over 300,000 tulips alone), vibrant pops of color enhance the already picturesque city.
Its like a sea of flowers everywhere you look!
So how did this massive festival, honoring a small little flower, get started?
Turns out, back in WWII Canada offered the Dutch Royal family refuge while Nazi’s occupied the Netherlands.
Princess Juliana gave birth to a daughter while in Ottawa and the Canadian government temporarily made the maternity ward international territory so the new baby could legally inherit her Dutch citizenship.
Apparently Canadians really ARE super nice people!
As a show of thanks and friendship, the Royal fam gifted 300,000 tulip bulbs to Canada and has sent over an additional 20,000 every year since.
The month-long festival is marked with everything from concerts and parades to tea parties and treasure hunts (seriously).
Its a great time to visit Ottawa before the summer heat kicks in!
Know Before you Go:
– Visiting earlier in the month of May equates to smaller crowds and more freshly bloomed tulips.
– Commissioner’s Park, the biggest showcase of tulips in the city, is about a 6km walk from City Center/Parliament Hill. If you’re not up for the walk, you can bike out on a Capital Bixi bike, hop a ride on the Lady Dive Tours bus or take a local OC Transpocity bus.
– Festival events occur all over the city so be sure to grab a copy of the Tulip Times newspaper for dates and locations of all events.
*A big thanks to Ottawa Tourism!
**For more Photo Friday, head to Delicious Baby
I have wanted to go to the Canadian Tulip Festival for ages but it never worked out. Finally was able to go this year when my younger daughter and I spent last weekend in Ottawa. Unfortunately, the tulips were almost finished and it wasn’t quite what I expected but we did still have a great time. Your photos are lovely!
That’s too bad that the tulips weren’t at their peak for you! I had initially expected there to field after field of flowers (like in Holland) but they were planted in smaller sections that I thought. Still really pretty though!
Kelly, those are beautiful pictures. I never knew about Canadian Tulip Festival. Thanks for letting us know. I hope to see that with my eyes next year.
If you have the chance, its worth a visit!
LOVE tulips. I always look forward to spring. Your pictures are beautiful.
Thanks Nicole! I love spring, but it always seems to go by far too quickly!
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