The Canadian Tulip Festival, Ottawa’s award winning flagship festival since 1953, is probably the biggest festival of its kind in the world, celebrating Ottawa’s genuine flower as a symbol of international peace and friendship.
The Canadian Tulip Festival is an occasion of the Canadian Tulip Legacy, a non-profit charitable organization founded to celebrate the historic Royal gift of tulips from the Dutch to Canadians after World War II. With 100 tulip varieties and 120 flower beds, the Canadian Tulip Festival is without a doubt the most colorful festival in the country.
This Ottawa-based festival includes more than 1,000,000 dazzling bulbs, rising to 14,000 m² of blossoms (or, in Canadian terms, enough to cover nine NHL fields). Furthermore, it all began as a token of gratitude. During World War II, Canada was a place of refuge for Dutch Princess Juliana and her children, including Princess Margriet who was born at Ottawa’s Civic Hospital.
In 1945, the Dutch government sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Canada to offer their thanks. Princess Juliana followed suit, giving 20,500 extra bulbs the following year. From these early gifts, a rich historic practice was started.
The Tulip Festival of Ottawa declares its 70th anniversary in 2022. After few celebrations in recent years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ottawa-based festival is back this May with a remarkable lineup of in-person events. One of the main highlights in tulip festival is a new “Tulips At Night” program.
Lighting powered solar will extend the viewing hours on selected flower beds and free outdoor movies will play all night for the visitors. Furthermore, visitors will really want to explore another 1,100-meter blacklight experience along the Dow’s Lake Boardwalk. The combination of Fluorescent inks and blacklights offer a new artistic interpretation of what the tulips mean to Ottawa people. A virtual program is available to increase live events and limit any pandemic-related disturbances.
You can welcome spring at the world’s biggest tulip festival this 2022.Canadian tulip festival – Ottawa Tulip Festival 2022 features massive tulip displays, fireworks, family fun and many more. Over 11 days each May, this festival celebrates the seasonal flower’s beauty and its memorable ties to Canada’s capital (Ottawa). The event held outdoor takes place at Commissioners Park, where more than 300,000 tulips bloom near by the Rideau Canal’s beautiful Dows Lake.
Here are some interesting facts you should know about this amazing festival-:
The idea was brought up by a photographer
The Canadian Tulip Festival owes its origins to famous photographic artist Malak Karsh. In 1949, Malak captured tulips sent by Princess Juliana as they blossomed on Parliament Hill. In 1952, he proposed the possibility of a tulip festival to the Ottawa Board of Trade and from that point the idea bloomed —in more ways than one. Malak later became the privileged leader of the Canadian Tulip Festival until his passing in.
In this festival you can not only enjoy the tulips but also dessert
As of now, Ottawa Tulip Festival’s ‘Chiefs Emeritis’ are Grant and Pam Hooker. These people group leaders are popular for spearheading another Ottawa symbol, the popular BeaverTails pastry. This elliptical, deep fried dough is always served soaked in cinnamon and sugar and is accessible across Ottawa, including close to the main Tulip Festival destinations.
The festival is a symbol of friendship between the Netherlands and Canada
There are more than 300,000 blossoms in the biggest set of beds, situated in Commissioner’s Park close to Dow’s Lake. Guests who can take their eyes off from the beautiful flowers will see a special statue of a man raising his arms, a hat in each hand. This piece, entitled The Man With Two Hats, has a twin and the subsequent sculpture is situated in Apeldoorn.
The piece, crafted by Dutch craftsman Henk Visch, celebrates the ties among Canada and the Netherlands and reflects the expense of war. Princess Margriet unveiled the Ottawa sculpture in 2002, two years after she went to the opening of the Apeldoorn piece.
Tulips can likewise be found at the church
There is a third tulip bed which is hidden in plain sight, which houses bulbs given by the Netherlands. Every year, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church gets 100 bulbs from the Dutch Embassy, which once in a while, have been conveyed by the ambassador or by visiting Dutch students. Princess Margriet was initiated in St. Andrew’s on June 29, 1943, and the group celebrates this exceptional connection each year.
In special gardens Tulips gifted by the Netherlands are planted
Each year, the tulips gifted by the Netherlands are put in two special flower beds. One is at the Ottawa Hospital’s Civic Campus, the birth spot of Princess Margriet. As a matter of fact, Princess Juliana mentioned the area when she sent her absolute first bulbs. The other site, in Commissioner’s Park, is appropriately named the Queen Juliana Gift Bed.
The tulip is the official flower of Ottawa
In 2001, the tulip turned into the official flower of the City of Ottawa. Nonetheless, not all of the Canadian Tulip Festival’s gardens are situated in Ottawa. You can find “Malak’s Bed” by the Museum of History in the city of Gatineau. With the Ottawa River and Parliament buildings behind the scenes, this flower bed mirrors one of Malak’s most renowned photographs, which showed up on a Canada Post stamp. There’s an extra tulip garden in Gatineau’s Montcalm which is Taché Park.
Ottawa Tulip festival which is the combination of historic events and beautiful tulips should never be neglected when you visit Canada in 2022. Tulip festival has so much to offer from remarkable events which are held in both night and day to delicious delicacies that are totally worth trying. Enjoy your time in Ottawa by attending this festival which is all about beauty and enjoyment.