The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is known worldwide and occurs annually in the spring. Blooms are weather dependent but are usually expected in April. This year, cold temperatures kept the tulips from peak bloom until late April.
It’s a huge economic generator for Skagit County and Western Washington. Four tulip farms welcome visitors from across the globe to see the tulips in bloom.
The Bellingham Herald took a look at the festival by the numbers.
1. About 500 acres of tulips are grown in Skagit Valley, which represents 75% of the total U.S. commercial production of tulips.
2. More tulip and daffodil bulbs are produced in Skagit County than in any other county in the United States.
3. About 20 million bulbs are harvested each summer in Skagit County. They are shipped to buyers throughout the United States and Canada.
4. About 75 million cut flowers are grown in Skagit greenhouses and fields every year, accounting for over 50% of overall sales. Fresh-cut flowers make up the majority of revenue with the remaining revenue generally split between bulbs and festival attendance during the spring. Fresh-cut flower sales are a bigger percentage of business than bulb sales because growers can sell flowers year-round.
5. The festival brings in 300,000 to 400,000 people from more than 80 countries each year. That’s more than twice the population of Skagit County.
6. About 15%-20% of the people who visit the festival travel from Canada.
7. The festival generates $65 million in revenue for Skagit County.
8. The Skagit bulb industry averages about $20 million in annual gross income, $3 million of which is in bulb sales. However, the majority of the bulbs grown are not sold but rather planted for fresh-cut flower production in greenhouses.
9. Since 1968, cut flower prices have increased three times. Bulb prices have doubled.
This information was gathered from the 2021 Skagit County Agriculture Statistics report by Washington State University Skagit County Extension, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival Executive Director Cindy Verge and Skagit County tulip grower Brent Roozen.
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is the largest festival in Northwest Washington State and the largest Tulip Festival in the United States! Each year, more than 1 million visitors come to experience fields of brightly colored tulips. Skagit Valley Tulip Festival welcomes you!
While the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival itself is ticket-free, there are four different tulip gardens that offer distinctive experiences and ticket prices. Purchase tickets at the garden entrance or online in advance.
About 500 acres of tulips are grown in the Valley, which represents 75% of U.S. commercial production. Skagit County is known worldwide for its Tulip Festival, which occurs the entire month of April.
Two farms, Roozengaarde and Tulip Town, have long comprised the heart of the festival. The former is famous for its fields that stretch wide with blocks of color; the sight of such tidy lines of perky blooms is more impressive than you'd think.
Different tulip varieties have different bloom durations: Early Blooming Tulips: These often last for about a week or slightly more. Mid-Season Tulips: They can last up to two weeks if the weather is favorable. Late Blooming Tulips: Some late bloomers are known to last up to three weeks or more.
Washington Bulb Co. is the largest grower of tulips, daffodils and irises in the United States and possibly the world. Its fields grow about 90 percent of the Skagit Valley bulb crop.
Dogs will be allowed with any ticket level except the Experience Pass. Tulip Town requires dogs to remain on a short leash, be picked up after, and be well-behaved around people and other dogs. Tulip Town does not allow drones.
Tulips are perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes that bloom in spring and die back after flowering to an underground storage bulb. Depending on the species, tulip plants can be between 10 and 70 cm (4 and 28 inches) high.
Tulip flowers open and close in response to heat and light. When tulip petals fold in at night, or on a rainy day, the pollen stays dry and reproductive parts are protected. When they open the next morning, the pollen is ready to attach to the bodies of hungry insects.
Once a tulip field begins to color, that particular field will usually stay in bloom for about two weeks. Each field is planted with different varieties, meaning not all fields will bloom at the same time.
This means you have the flexibility of only visiting one farm if you'd like or spending a few days in Skagit Valley and exploring all four tulip fields. If crowds are not your thing, you can still experience the tulip blooms from your car or side of the road.
And while the world's largest tulip garden is housed within one of the world's largest gardens in Keukenhof in the Netherlands (Holland), the largest tulip festival in the world is actually in Canada.
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is the largest tulip festival in the USA by acreage of tulips, number of farms, and days of blooms. It is held annually in April and features fields of tulips, display gardens, experiences, and events.
Every day, 10,000 to 15,000 visitors make it to the mesmerizing place,' said garden in-charge Asif Yatoo. Tourists visit the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden.
Boom is a biannual electronic and world music festival based in Portugal, with an audience capacity of 33,333. Boom Festival began in 1997 as a psychedelic trance music festival, but has now diversified to include a range of DJs, live music and visual arts performances.
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is one of the most popular events in Washington, and it attracts thousands of tourists each year from all over the world. It showcases the largest tulip fields in the area and includes other fun activities like street fairs, live music, and more.
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