Before dinner in the Oyster Bar in April, consider visiting the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival with 300 tulip varieties. You can observe tulip bloom from land, water or air, by booking the most suitable tour.
12 Exciting Events
Designed as a scenic driving tour, the festival has been displaying the blooming landscapes for 37 years.
The event is held annually from April 1-30. Tulips bloom is never scheduled though.
Because this depends on the weather and varies annually. It is wise to map your journey and check bloom status in the Skagit valley on the festival’s website.
With a dozen of offline and online events, the 2021 Skagit Tulip Festival will offer more diverse entertainment this year.
For instance, one of the highlights will be interaction with Tulip Festival Poster Artist Jennifer Mc Gill who will be signing posters and sharing art tips.
Additionally, sports fans can participate in Bike Tours, or Running Marathon.
Connecting music in art, the hosts will welcome tulip lovers on April, 1 with an online jazz session and a Silent auction.
Visitors can bid for a table-top for two sunset evenings at Tulip Town, tulips for a year from RoozenGarde, and artwork by Jennifer McGill.
The highest concentration of the flowers’ compositions will be in Tulip Town and RoozenGaarde decorated with over three thousand bulbs.
120 Glorious Years of Yulip farming
Bulb-growing in the region started as a commercial experiment at end of the 19th century. A British emigrant planted several bulbs on Orcas Island.
His success encouraged the US Department of Agriculture to establish the first garden.
The tradition to celebrate the spring tulip bloom with a special festival originated in Bellingham in 1920 and lasted for a decade.
After heavy losses, farmers moved to the Skagit Valley where the modern Skagit Tulip Festival was set up in 1984.
Useful Travel Tips
- Avoid crowds and plan your visits on weekdays or before 10 am on weekends.
- Look for special parking places next to fields. All tulip plantations are private property. It is not allowed to pull-over in non-designated areas to take pictures of tulips.
- Pick the most suitable tour – by bike, car, or helicopter – and meet more tulip fans.
- Learn more about the designs and history of tulips in the Guilded Gallery and Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum and the Whatcom Museum of History and Art.
- Finish your day with a delicious meal in the Oyster Bar. Call in advance 360-766-6185 and we’ll reserve a seat for you!