The Canadian Tulip Festival (; ) is a tulip festival held annually each May in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The festival claims to be the world's largest tulip festival, displaying over one million tulips, with attendance of over 650,000 visitors annually. Large displays of tulips are planted throughout the city, the largest of which are often in Commissioners Park on the shores of Dow's Lake, and along the Rideau Canal with 300,000 tulips planted there alone.

The festival is a cultural and historical aspect of the special Canada–Netherlands relationship, having originated with commemorative donations of tulips to Canada from the Netherlands for Canadian actions during World War II, when Canadian forces led the liberation of the Netherlands and hosted the Dutch royal family in exile. The Netherlands continues to send 20,000 bulbs to Canada each year (10,000 from the royal family and 10,000 from the Dutch Bulb Growers Association).

History

thumb|Red tulips blooming (1952)

During World War II, Seymour Cobley of the Royal Horticultural Society donated 83,000 tulips to Canada from 1941 to 1943 to honour Canadian involvement in the war. However, his donation is not known to have resulted in any major events or festivals. In 1946, Juliana sent another 20,500 bulbs requesting that a display be created for the hospital, and promised to send 10,000 more bulbs each year. By 1963 the festival featured more than 2 million tulips, rising to nearly 3 million by 1995. The Trews first became widely known after opening for Big Sugar at the 2003 festival. Montreal's General Rudie also gained exposure early in their career with a performance at the 2000 festival.

For a dozen years between 1994 and 2006, the Canadian Tulip Festival celebrated countries all across the world who have also adopted the tulip as a symbol of international friendship.

In the early 2000s, the festival became less focused on tulips, with more emphasis placed on other attractions such as the concerts and a crafts fair. Additionally, weather over the past years had affected admissions and ticket sales; when poor weather and low ticket sales for a performance by The Guess Who in 2003 made the festival lose an estimated $100,000, later concerts featured less-prominent bands, but these led to even lower ticket sales due to audiences' unfamiliarity with them, only lowered by worsening weather. In October 2006 the festival filed for bankruptcy. Despite a bailout of $75,000 from the city, in 2006 the festival had only $65,000 against debts of $750,000. To rescue the festival, David Luxton, CEO of Ottawa-based explosive detection systems manufacturer Allen-Vanguard, purchased the debt to allow it to reorganize.

Sites

  • Commissioners Park
  • Beechwood National Military Cemetery

Attraction sites

  • National Gallery of Canada
  • Royal Canadian Mint
  • Library and Archives Canada
  • Canadian War Museum

Themes

  • 1994: A Tribute to the Origin Country of the Tulip - Turkey
  • 1995: The Friendship That Flowered - 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands
  • 1996: Floral Tribute to Nice
  • 1997: Floral Artistry of Japan
  • 1998: A Celebration of Canada's Provinces and Territories
  • 1999: Between Friends
  • 2000: Tulips 2000: A Capital Celebration!
  • 2001: Tulips Forever! A Salute to Britain
  • 2002: Tulipmania! 50th Anniversary
  • 2003: G'day Australia – Tulips Down Under
  • 2004: Canada's Tulip Experience
  • 2005: A Celebration of Peace and Friendship
  • 2006: Tulips 2006 – World Flower Rendezvous!
  • 2007: "CelebrIDÉE A Celebration of Ideas" inaugural year
  • 2008: Where Ideas Bloom
  • 2009: The Tulip Route
  • 2010: "Liberation" - The 65th anniversary of the liberation of Europe
  • 2011: "Kaleidoscope" - A celebration of Spring awakening through colour, culture and community
  • 2012: The Festival celebrates its 60th anniversary with “60 years of Tulip Friendship”.
  • 2013: “Cirque de Liberation”
  • 2014: “Floral Extravaganza”
  • 2015: “Tulip Liberation” celebrates the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Holland through colour, culture and community!
  • 2016: "Urban Tulip" - at Aberdeen Pavilion
  • 2017: “One Tulip – One Canada” The Festival's 65th edition takes place during Canada's 150th
  • 2018: "A World of Tulips"
  • 2019: ReRooted
  • 2020: Liberation75 (Held Online during CoVid19)
  • 2021: Liberation 75+1 and Rembrandt & Dutch Masters
  • 2022: 70th Anniversary
  • 2023: The Canadian Tulip Legacy
  • 2024: Royal Canadian Air Force Centennial Celebrations
  • 2025: Celebrating 80 Years of Liberation with the Canadian Army
  • 2026: (no specific theme)

See also

  • Liberation Day (The Netherlands)
  • Canada–Netherlands relations
  • National Tulip Day in The Netherlands
  • National Canadian Liberation Monument

References

  • "The Story of the Ottawa Tulip Festival"