Tulip Festival

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival officially began in 1984. Prior to this, however, there is about 100 years of tulip history in the area. In 1883, George Gibbs from England moved to Orcas Island. He purchased flower bulbs and saw each year how much they multiplied. He contacted Dutch growers in Holland to learn about the business, and sent some bulbs over to show them. These growers visited Orcas Island to see for themselves.

Gibbs wrote to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1899 about commercial prospects, and they sent him over 15,000 bulbs from Holland as an experiment. This was so successful that the Department started their own 10-acre garden which became the Bellingham Tulip Festival. This festival ran from 1920-1930 but ended due to the Depression and bulb freezes during some of those years. The growers moved to Skagit Valley since it was further south of Bellingham.

Three tulip gardens are the main attraction of the Skagit Valley Tulip festival: Roozengaarde, Tulip Town, and the newest, Garden Rosalyn.

Roozengaarde

Roozengaarde is by far the largest tulip-growing farm out of the three. I spent about an hour taking pictures and had so much fun with it. I got here when it opened at 8am, and when I left at 9am there was a long line to enter. So, get here early!

Tulip Town

Normally, Tulip Town can compete with the magnificence of Roozengaarde, but this year it was impacted due to floods. Unfortunately there were not many tulips this year but hopefully it will resume to normal in years to come. They still had some picturesque spots.

Garden Rosalyn

The newest garden to enter the tulip festival is Garden Rosalyn. It is a much smaller garden, but their designs and the geese on the site make it fun.

If you go…

You will need to purchase tickets for each of the gardens. I recommend purchasing them online so you don’t have to take time at the ticket counter. This year, it was $15 for each garden.