canadian tulip festival
Address:
Phone:
1-800-66TULIPNileGuide Expert tip:
There are lots of fun, tulip-themed family activities in Major's Hill Park. A wonderful place for photographs is at Dow's Lake where you can leisurely stroll through the tulips and take photos of you and your loved ones amidst the blooms.Description:
The Canadian Tulip Festival celebrates the friendship between Canada and Holland. In 1945, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands presented Canada with 100,000 tulip bulbs to thank Canada for giving the Dutch royal family a haven during the Second World War and for the role Canada played in liberating the Netherlands. And each year since, masses of tulips have been planted in Ottawa and have become a symbol of peace and friendship. The Canadian Tulip Festival began in 1953 and has grown to become the world's largest tulip festival, with hundreds of thousands of tulips planted each year throughout the city. This free festival begins in early May and lasts 18 days, featuring mass displays of tulips on Parliament Hill, in Major's Hill Park (where many tulip themed activities and cultural events take place), at Dows Lake, on the Tulip Route along the Rideau Canal and at the Canadian Museum of Civilization across the Ottawa River in Gatineau.