Tulip Festival brings colorful flowers, events and experiences to the Skagit Valley

Green stems and colorful bulbs are in full bloom at this year’s Tulip Festival.

By Hayleigh Tramm April 12, 2024 12:39 pm

SKAGIT VALLEY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – For 41 years, thousands of people from around the world have traveled to the Skagit Valley for the annual Tulip Festival.  

Over those 41 years, the event has transformed into a region-wide experience merging local agriculture, small businesses and lifestyle into a month-long experience every April.  

One of the many tulip farms festival goers can visit is RoozenGaarde, one of the Skagit Valley’s largest farms dedicated to tulips and daffodils.   

“We always say the tulips bloom according to Mother Nature,” said Brent Roozen, owner of RoozenGaarde Farms.  

Roozen comes from a long lineage of tulip growers, dating back to the 1700’s in Holland. In the late 1940s, Roozen’s grandparents moved to the United States and settled in the Skagit Valley. Since then, their property has grown tremendously.  

“75 years, 10 children [and] about 36 grandchildren later, and now we're farming a few hundred acres of tulips, a few hundred acres of daffodils as well, and then we have 15 acres of greenhouse space where we plant tulips year-round,” Roozen said.  

RoozenGaarde works closely with the Tulip Festival every year to provide a cornerstone destination throughout the event. Roozen’s wife, Nicole, was recently brought on as the new Executive Director of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.  

Over the next couple weekends, both tuilps and daffodils will be at their most colorful for the season. Of course, variability plays a huge role in when these tenacious flowers do bloom, making the real decision maker the flowers themselves. In 2023, the tulips reach their peak bloom in mid-May due to colder temperatures and lower amounts of sunlight leading up to the festival.  

Nicole Roozen sees the tulip festival as an advocate for agriculture. Drawing attention to the types of practices and the amount of work that goes into something like this.

“I think of the tulips as that visual representation for the rich agricultural heritage that we have here in Skagit Valley,” Roozen said. 

Hosting events all month-long, tourists are encouraged to check out nearby businesses in the Skagit Valley, explore the region for a weekend and fully immerse themselves in this collaborative community event.  

RoozenGaarde has been growing flowers in the Skagit Valley since the late 1940s. Photographer: Sam Kristofferson

The next few weekends are jam packed with events for the whole family to enjoy. The 30th annual Spring Garage Sale is happening on April 12 and 13. This event features food from local vendors, live music and hand-crafted items all located at the Skagit County Fairgrounds.  

Another upcoming event that the Tulip Festival is hosting is the must-see PACCAR open house, happening April 13 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is the one day a year that PACCAR is open to the public, highlighting how brands such as Kenworth and Peterbilt manufacture and test the large trucks we see every day on I5. This event is free and family friendly. 

The following weekend, April 19-21, is the 40th Annual Tulip Festival Street Fair which features live music, over 140 vendors, and all kinds of food options for the whole family.  

Some ongoing events throughout April include the popular Kiwanis Salmon Barbecue, happening every Friday-Sunday as well as English Tea at the Willowbrook Manor every Friday-Saturday.  

For the second year in a row, the Tulip Tussle Pickleball Tournament is back. Both single and double courts available and will be hosted at the Blacburn Pickleball Pavillion on E. College Way in Mt. Vernon.  

MyBellinghamNow and our friends at KAFE 104.1 will be at the 40th Annual Tulip Festival Street Fair on Friday, April 19. We look forward to seeing you there!  

More information can be found on the Tulip Festival’s brand-new website tulipfestival.org.