Warm, sunny weather has brought out the tulips in Skagit County, and the flowers are dazzling visitors with acres of color.
“They are at their peak bloom now through April 25,” said Cindy Verge, executive director of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.
The bright hues and sunny days also have drawn waves of smitten tulip lovers to the festival, which continues through April 30.
Last weekend, admittance tickets to the two farms, Tulip Town and RoozenGaarde, were hard to come by.
“All the time slots the weekend of April 17 and 18 sold out and we expect it to be similar for the weekend of April 24 and 25,” Verge said. “The gardens will be open rain or shine!”
New this year are health and safety protocols because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those include advance tickets that must be bought online for admittance into Tulip Town and RoozenGaarde, because the growers are required to control crowd size.
If you’re planning to go this weekend, buy your tickets sooner rather than later, even if the forecast from Friday through the weekend is looking gray and rainy.
General admission tickets into the gardens allow visitors in for two- to three-hour blocks.
Buy them online at tulips.com and tuliptown.com. Separate tickets are required for each garden.
“The tulips are short-blooming flowers, so do make plans to come and see them while they are in bloom — and pack patience — there will be traffic and there will be some congestion,” Verge said.
If you can go on weekdays, do so.
“The weekend will be busy,” Verge said. “We recommend coming during the week if possible.”
That’s especially the case this week, when sun is in the forecast through Thursday and rain isn’t expected until Saturday.
Andrew Miller, co-owner of Tulip Town, expected that Pacific Northwest residents who can’t make it to the festival during the next couple of sunny days will come anyway.
“We have found that people will come in the rain,” Miller said. “They just put on their boots and the come out and the enjoy the tulips in the rain.”
More information on the gardens and other festival attractions are at tulipfestival.org.
Planning to drive by the fields? An interactive map of the Tulip Route will help direct you.
The Washington State Department of Transportation just wants you to remember a few things.
