Skagit Valley Tulip Festival: Take a tour of the largest bulb producer in North America
The annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival returns next month, and The Herald recently was offered a sneak peek into the preparation it takes to orchestrate the largest tulip festival in North America.
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival runs April 1-30 across five local farms filled with vibrant colored tulips, food trucks, markets and other attractions.
“Each spring, we welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world, not just to witness the bright spring blooms, but to experience the warmth of our community, the charm of our towns and the deep pride we all share in this incredible place,” festival Executive Director Nicole Roozen said during a preview media event last week. “This year, we are building upon that legacy in exciting ways, offering new experiences, deeper engagement and fresh opportunities to celebrate what makes this festival so special.”
This year the festival is adding a new art exhibit that will feature 30 years of the festival’s artwork, as well as changes to the annual tulip festival parade.
“This exhibit will showcase how artists have translated the beauty of the Skagit Valley tulips into many pieces over the years, while also giving members a chance to learn about the creative mind,” Roozen said.
The Tulip Festival Original Art Exhibit will be on display April 5-11 at The Local Shop at 817 Metcalf St. in Sedro-Woolley, and then at the Depot Arts Center at 611 R Ave. in Anacortes from April 18-25.
This 38th Annual Tulip Parade on April 5 will feature a new kids’ zone that includes games, face painting and other activities before the parade at 2 p.m. This year’s parade will also be on a car-free route without parked cars on the streets, increasing visibility for viewers.
“At its heart, this festival is about more than tulips.” Roozen said. “It’s about the connections we make, the traditions we pass down, and the ways we come together as a community. Throughout April, we invite you to experience what’s new, explore everything the festival has to offer, and, most importantly, share these stories. Because while the blooms might only last for a season, the impact of this festival lasts all year long.”
The tulip festival features five local farms, each unique with different attractions, flowers and offerings: Tulip Town, Skagit Acres, RoozenGaarde, Tulip Valley Farms and Garden Rosalyn.
Throughout the tulip season, visitors are welcomed to each farm to experience the blooming acres of vibrant colors, local artisans and foods, U-pick tulip fields and even a nighttime laser and light tulip show.
As most of these farms are only open during tulip season, The Washington Bulb Co., the largest tulip and daffodil bulb producer in North America, and its farm, RoozenGaarde, are open year-round.
The company ships tulips across the globe throughout the year and has perfected its practice of growing, packaging and shipping fresh tulips and bulbs overnight.
The family-owned company’s Dutch roots can be seen not only by the two clocks in its warehouse displaying Dutch and local time, but by its family roots.
The company is currently owned and operated by Brent Roozen, whose grandparents first came over to the United States in the 1940s, when they settled in Skagit Valley.
“They purchased 5 acres of land, had 10 children, 36 grandchildren, and a whole bunch of tulips later, we’re now farming about 175 acres of tulips at Washington Bulb Co. and RoozenGaarde,” Brent Roozen said.
As 175 acres may not seem like much farmland, it’s about the size of 132 Seattle Seahawks playing fields at Lumen Field.
Thanks to Skagit Valley’s geographical location between mountains, rivers and the ocean it is “basically the top tulip growing climate in the world,” according to Brent Roozen, and usually beats Holland’s climate which experiences more extreme weather.
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The company grows bulbs and places them in trays to then cool down in large coolers, allowing the flowers to experience a season of winter at 32-42 degrees. Then, the bulbs are moved to a greenhouse for 21-24 days until they are picked and packaged for shipping before they bloom.
The large greenhouse can have its temperature altered by one or two degrees to help push the flowers to be ready to ship faster for holidays or events such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
Before the tulips are shipped out, they are kept in large coolers to keep them fresh. The flowers also run through an x-ray scanner, checking each flower’s bloom potential and color intensity.
“You can place an order and we will take your flowers in the morning, we’ll run them across the process in line, we’ll ship them out in the afternoon, and they’ll be delivered to you next day. They’ll actually be delivered to you in New York sooner than they’ll be delivered to in Seattle, just because New York is three hours ahead. Now, that is if everything was smoothly, of course,” Brent Roozen said.
The company’s flowers are also sold to major retailers across the globe including Costco, Safeway and Kroger.
RoozenGaarde and the Washington Bulb Co. is located at 15867 Beaver Marsh Road in Mount Vernon.
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
