The month-long Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is underway. Here’s what you need to know
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival opens Thursday, April 1, with COVID-19 safety measures in place that include requiring visitors to two gardens to first buy tickets online.
But there’s joy in the return of a beloved festival that was canceled last year because of the pandemic.
“We are SO happy to have people be able to come to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival this year!” Cindy Verge, executive director of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
The festival runs through April 30.
If you’re heading down on opening day or this weekend, here’s what you need to know.
Flowers
The tulips are the featured attraction but the bright happy yellow of daffodil fields are front and center at the moment.
“The daffodils are beautiful for this weekend and in full bloom,” Verge said. “The tulips are working their way to full bloom, but aren’t yet here.”
Or as RoozenGaarde, one of the two garden operators, wrote on its Facebook page: “Slowly but surely, here comes the tulip color!”
Tulip Town is the other garden operator.
As for when the tulips will be at peak bloom in the gardens and in the fields, when acres of color against a mountain backdrop will dazzle your eyes, that ranges from April 7 to April 25.
Check for peak bloom at:
▪ the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival page on Facebook.
▪ the RoozenGaarde Bloom Map at tulips.com/bloommap and on RoozenGaarde on Facebook.
▪ the Tulip Town Facebook page, which has been posting plenty of video field checks that show what stage the tulips are in. If you’re heading down soon, wear appropriate shoes because Tulip Town is a working farm and it’s muddy in places, according to a post on Wednesday, May 31.
Traffic
There’s a Tulip Route, which will take you past acres of fields.
If you’re on it, the Washington State Department of Transportation wants you to remember a few things to respect those who live in Skagit County as well as other travelers.
▪ Obey traffic laws.
▪ Don’t block or park in private driveways.
▪ If signs say “no parking,” do what they say.
▪ Don’t stop in the middle of the road, no matter how pretty the flowers.
▪ Keep your eyes on the road — not on your camera — while driving.
Visiting gardens, other sites
Because we’re still in a pandemic, we must continue to spread out and keep our distance.
That means you’ll have to schedule your visits to the large gardens operated by Tulip Town and RoozenGaarde by buying your tickets online first.
General admission tickets will allow you in for two- to three-hour blocks.
Find them by going to tulipfestival.org.
“Come down and see the flowers,” Verge said, reminding visitors that they’ll need to wear masks and practice social distancing.
There are other things visitors can do as well, she said.
“We do suggest visiting our two art shows — one at Christianson’s Nursery and one at Schuh Farms, both run by nonprofit organizations with proceeds benefiting the talented artists showcased as well as scholarship funds,” Verge said.
“People might also enjoy visiting South Fork Farms and pet the alpacas and learn about them,” she added.
More on those attractions and others can be found on the interactive map at tulipfestival.org/map/.
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
