Tulip watchers say this is when the flowers at Skagit festival will be ‘spectacular’
The tulips are taking their time opening at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, so fans will have to wait a little longer for a full blast of flower power.
You can blame the weather for that.
“Every day there are a few more blossoms, but we are having a cool spring,” Cindy Verge, the festival’s executive director, said to The Bellingham Herald.
That’s not to say there aren’t any tulips blooming. The colors are starting to show up, according to the website for the month-long festival, which lasts until April 30.
What should people do if they want to see tulips at their blooming best — with hundreds of acres of color to dazzle the eyes?
“Wait a bit to come,” Verge said. “Generally when we have a season like this one, the blooms tend to concentrate with the early, mid, and late blooming tulips all blooming together, making for a wonderful peak blooming season.”
When’s peak bloom then?
“Right now, it looks like the weekends of April 17-18 and 24-25 will be spectacular,” Verge said.
If you can’t wait and are heading down on Saturday, April 10, check out Tulips on Parade in downtown Mount Vernon and La Conner, which will be decorated for the occasion.
You can admire them while driving by and then vote for your favorite by sending an email to info@tulipfestival.org through Monday, April 12.
More on this and other events, including a photo contest, are at tulipfestival.org.
Before you go
Remember that COVID-19 health and safety measures will require you to first buy tickets online in order to enter the large gardens operated by Tulip Town and RoozenGaarde.
Tickets aren’t being sold at the gates this year.
“COVID protocols require the gardens to keep numbers at a certain level. All COVID protocols are being followed at the gardens and the festival events and activities,” Verge said.
General admission tickets into the gardens will allow you in for two- to three-hour blocks.
Find them by going to tulipfestival.org.
More on those attractions and others can be found on the interactive map at tulipfestival.org/map/.
Traffic
Planning to drive by the fields? An interactive map of the Tulip Route will help direct you.
The Washington State Department of Transportation just wants you to remember a few things.
▪ 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.
This is its first year back after being canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Prior to the pandemic, the festival attracted many visitors.
Organizers don’t know what to expect this year, but the festival likely received a boost with a recent segment on NBC Nightly News.
This story was originally published April 9, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
