Plan Now for Spring Flower Festivals

Spring is the season for flower festivals, and if your family plans to attend any of these popular events, now is the time to make your family travel arrangements. These are popular events and hotel rooms fill early.

As you would expect, spring — and its flowers — arrive earliest in southern regions, and one of the nation’s most popular festivals celebrates the arrival of cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. It’s impossible to predict exactly when these clouds of pink will be the most showy around the Tidal Basin, but the National Cherry Blossom Festival this year runs March 20–April 16.

At the same time, in Skagit Valley, Washington, 300 acres of tulip fields bloom during the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, which lasts the entire month of April. Walk the paths among 1 million hand-planted bulbs covering the 5-acre RoozenGaarde in colorful patterns and designs. Then, drive through the valley to see field after field with millions of tulips in bloom.

Back in the East, the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, bursts into bloom with more than 3 million bright daffodils along its roadsides and in gardens throughout the island. Daffodil Festival events, held April 27–30, include an antique car parade (the island is filled with classic and antique vehicles for the occasion) and a tailgate picnic.

In early May, two cities with large populations descended from Dutch immigrants celebrate their heritage with tulip festivals. At Tulip Time in Pella, Iowa, the streets are lined with 300,000 blooming bulbs. You can try authentic foods and crafts at Dutch Craft Market or climb inside a replica windmill.

Dutch settlers planted the first 100,000 tulip bulbs in Holland, Michigan, in 1929, a number that has grown to more than 6 million today. Six miles of city streets are lined with tulips and you’ll see more in fields, gardens and dooryards wherever you look. Holland’s Tulip Time Festival runs May 6–13.