I know, I know. It’s going to be fall in a few days; the season of pumpkins and leaves that are changing color, not the season of tulips. Originally I thought about pushing this post back for awhile, but the pictures are too pretty not to share and I also thought that people might be starting to plan–or will be soon–their 2018 travels, and if that’s the case, I have a suggestion for you: the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa.
The tulip festival is the reason I went back to Ottawa, so soon after visiting the first time. As soon as I heard about it, I knew I wanted to go back with my mom to see the tulips, and so that she could visit this city that totally captured my heart. We also wanted to get there before Parliament Hill closed for renovations, so May 2017 was our year.
The Canadian Tulip Festival is the biggest tulip festival in the world and the story behind it dates back to WWII. The Dutch royal family fled to Canada after the Nazi’s invaded the Netherlands and, while there, Princess Juliana became pregnant. In order for her child to be a Dutch citizen, the baby needed to be born on Dutch soil, so the hospital room she delivered her daughter in was temporarily named Dutch soil. After Canada helped liberate the Netherlands, Princess Juliana returned home, and sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Canada as a thank you. She continued to send tulips every year, and eventually the tulip festival was formed as a way to commemorate the special relationship between Canada and the Netherlands. The Canadian Tulips Festival runs for about two weeks every year and millions of tulips bloom throughout the city.
My birthday fell on Mother’s Day this year, so my mom and I timed our visit for Mother’s Day weekend, which was right at the start of the tulip festival. Since we were there at the beginning, there were patches of tulips that hadn’t bloomed yet, but what we were able to see was absolutely beautiful. It was so much fun to see this gorgeous city adorned with tulips.
The tour guide for one of our Haunted Walks of Ottawa chatted with us about the tulips before our walk began and she said that they had a special red and white tulip this year in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary, but the white looked a bit yellow to her. I think these were the white and red tulips she was talking about. Even though they were a tinge yellow, she said they’re still special.
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Chelsea Jacobs
September 20, 2017 at 9:53 amThese pictures are stunning!!
Beth Kondrick
September 20, 2017 at 9:54 amOh my gosh! These tulips are so beautiful! I don’t know that I’ve seen so many before! How fun to go and see them in person!
Stacey Peters
September 20, 2017 at 10:53 amLOL, so can anyone “conquer” their hospital room in the name of their desired country or do I have to marry a monarch? That’s too funny. I’ve been to Keukenhof and its stunning. Glad to know there is an equally beautiful tulip festival much closer to my current home.
Eli J. Pacheco
September 20, 2017 at 11:57 amAwesome pics with an incredible back story. It’s a good thing the gift wasn’t sardines. This might be a very different post.
shootingstarsmag
September 20, 2017 at 12:23 pmTulips are beautiful and I love the story on how the festival began.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
Allison Arnone
September 20, 2017 at 6:58 pmhow pretty! i work in NYC right near Madison Square Park and i LOVE when they have tulips planted. they’re so pretty and more importantly, so photogenic & instagram worthy 🙂 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/204ce12856b1cad7f45d86341782cea78f02afc05974ac4447b9a72994976a3f.jpg
Lindsay @ The Flynnigans
September 20, 2017 at 7:15 pmSo pretty!! When I was there, I had just missed the festival but the tulips were still just as gorgeous on that rainy day. 🙂
Alison @ Puppies & Pretties
September 20, 2017 at 8:19 pmA tulip festival is definitely on my bucket list! All of your photos are wonderful!
Holly
September 20, 2017 at 9:21 pmWow this is so pretty! I totally wish I could’ve gone! xx
http://hollyhabeck.com
Jenny
September 20, 2017 at 9:43 pmThis festival looks so beautiful!
Shann Eva
September 20, 2017 at 9:59 pmGorgeous! Tulips are one of my favorite flowers. I would love to be able to visit this festival some year.
Liz G
September 20, 2017 at 10:18 pmI’ve heard Ottawa is gorgeous, and this tulip festival is certainly beautiful! And the origin story is so interesting!
Charlotte
September 20, 2017 at 10:31 pmOh, my goodness!!! I love the story about how Canada received its tulips 🙂 lol at Dutch soil–hey, it worked! This definitely looks like it’s worth a visit and glad you were able to go!!
Thanks so much for sharing your lovely photos <3
Kallie
September 21, 2017 at 7:33 amWOW! I’ve never seen so many tulips at once and they are one of my favorite flowers! SO pretty
Morgan Smith
September 21, 2017 at 8:58 amOMG this is totally going on my bucket list!
Jordyn Galan
September 21, 2017 at 9:58 amSo many tulips! That is beautiful! What a unique festival.
Kimberly M
September 21, 2017 at 10:32 amOh that is absolutely beautifu. My uncle lives in Ottawa. We try to get up there every other year for a visit. We want to plan a winter one so that my son can skate on the canal. We usually go in the summer. It’s gorgeous up there. My mom went for the 150th celebrations this year.
Tiffany Twisted
September 21, 2017 at 10:36 amBeautiful photographs! I love tulips, but we only see them for a few weeks in spring. I’ve never been to a tulip festival, much less heard of one…how awesome!
jenn griffin
September 21, 2017 at 12:12 pmgorgeous photos! thanks for sharing. :]
Meredith
September 21, 2017 at 1:24 pmThe colors of these tulips are so amazing and vibrant! I had no idea that Ottawa had a tulip festival ~ Thanks for sharing!
Marissa Wehrer
September 21, 2017 at 1:43 pmThis is so beautiful and dreamy! I would love to go to any flower festival.
Hanna J Smith
September 21, 2017 at 3:13 pmWe get a few tulips growing here in New Hampshire and they are just so perfect! I looked all around us for a Tulip Festival thinking surely Maine was cold enough but I wasn’t able to find any! 🙁
Jenna Urben
September 21, 2017 at 5:32 pmIt’s a dream of mine to visit here one day!! We have a tulip field just north of Dallas and I love going 🙂
Ruthie Ridley
September 21, 2017 at 6:49 pmThis looks so fun!! I would love to visit one day!!
Marie Ndiaye
September 21, 2017 at 7:41 pmThis looks so beautiful! This might be more easily attainable on my bucket list than the tulip fields in Holland.
Dr. K. Lee Banks
September 21, 2017 at 9:21 pmOh my, just gorgeous! Love all the pictures! And now I want to plant tulips next spring. This also reminds me of a love story involving my parents, who are sadly gone now. My parents met while they were in the military, in Germany. One thing led to another, and Dad proposed to Mom in a tulip garden in Holland!
Erica @ Coming up Roses
September 22, 2017 at 6:54 amGIRL, this is GORGEOUS. BRB, I’m coming up for the next one!!!
Yolanda
September 22, 2017 at 7:12 amI’ve always wanted to go to this in the spring – just a 4 hour drive from Toronto. Maybe next year. So so beautiful.
Taylor Smith
September 22, 2017 at 9:17 amTulips are so beautiful! I am so jealous of this beautiful view!
Chelsie Carr
September 24, 2017 at 9:06 pmIt has been on my bucket list to go to a tulip festival – I see so many photos and they are so beautiful!