Where does the Tulip Festival come from?
Winter is over and we are once again getting ready for summer. We’re back to wearing light coats, spending time outside, and finally seeing the flowers bloom! There are many beautiful flower festivals during this time of year, but the best is the Canadian Tulip Festival, which is the world’s largest festival devoted to tulips.
The Canadian Tulip Festival has been held in Canada’s capital since 1953, and it is now the world’s largest of its kind. Hundreds of thousands of visitors come from all over the world to see over a million tulips carpet the Ottawa region during this famous annual event.
The city of Ottawa has a long history with tulips, dating back to World War II. Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, along with her two young daughters, Princess Beatrix and Princess Irene, sought refuge in Ottawa after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. Princess Juliana gave birth to her third daughter, Princess Margriet, while in exile in Canada.
Part of the Ottawa Civic Hospital was declared Dutch soil at the time of the baby’s birth, allowing the new princess to retain Dutch nationality exclusively. The Dutch flag was flown at the top of the famous Peace Tower, and Dutch music was played on the tower’s carillon, as part of the celebrations for the princess’s birth. These members of the Dutch royal family lived in Ottawa until 1945, when they were able to return to a liberated Netherlands.
With the assistance of the Canadian Forces, the Netherlands was liberated in May 1945, and the royal family was reunited with their homeland after several years apart. Princess Juliana returned to the province of Holland but gave many presents to Canada, including 100,000 tulip bulbs, to thank Ottawa and the Canadian citizens. This was a remarkable gift from a war-torn nation whose people had just a few months before been reduced to starvation.
Princess Juliana, later Queen Juliana, sent another 20,500 bulbs to the Federal District Commission in 1946, requesting that some of them be planted in the Civic Hospital gardens in memory of Princess Margriet. She vowed to send another 20,000 tulip bulbs each year to express her gratitude for the kindness shown to her and her daughters when they lived in Ottawa.
Every year since then, the Dutch royal family has sent tulip bulbs to Canada’s capital, a gift known as the “Tulip Legacy” that inspired the festival. The Gift of Tulips, as well as the conclusion of World War II, will be 76 years old in 2021. The Tulip festival held every spring, represent the strong relationship between Canada and the Netherlands.
Despite the fact that the FDC planted tulip bulbs every year for the next few years, Ottawa’s Tulip Festival did not begin until May 1953. On the advice of world-renowned photographer Malak Karsh, the Ottawa Board of Trade organized the first Canadian Tulip Festival in 1953. Malak Karsh is regarded as the Festival’s founder, and his images have helped to symbolize the tulip. In 2001, the tulip was named Ottawa’s official flower.
In 2002, Princess Margaret who was born in the “Dutch delivery room” return to Ottawa to attend the 50th Tulip Festival.
Tulip Festival Date: May 14 – 24
Please visit the official website – TulipFestival.ca for details.
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To learn about things you can do in the city of Ottawa, click here.
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