Canadian Tulip Festival (1 of 2)

A fountain at Hull’s Casino blasts into the air above red and white tulips.

Are you a lover of the hundreds of varieties of tulips that brighten the world every Spring? If so, you’d probably expect to find the biggest celebration of their beauty and variety in the Netherlands, or in Turkey where they originated. Either way, you’d be wrong. The world’s largest tulip festival is held annually in Ottawa, Canada’s capital.

It all had its origin 60 years ago. Throughout World War II, Canada sheltered the displaced Dutch royal family in Ottawa. (One of the royal princesses was even born in a hospital room that was officially made part of Holland for the occasion). The ties between the two countries were strengthened when the Canadian Army liberated Holland. In appreciation the Dutch royal family presented Ottawa with 100,000 tulips, and have added thousands more annually ever since.

Today the total on display, at 19 sites for the 49th annual Festival, is somewhere between three and five million, with every imaginable colour and combination represented. As a bonus, Ottawa’s flowering trees are in full bloom all over the city, like Victoria in March or Washington in April. A 15-km (9-mile) Tulip Route links world-class museums and attractions, the Hull Casino, and the tulip beds themselves.

Since we never know when Mother Nature will surprise us, the Festival’s starting date is always a “best guess”. This year it began on May 11 and ended, as always, on the Victoria Day national holiday, which this year was May 21. Many of the flowers got an early start, because of an unusually warm spell. Visitors to the floral displays and the many associated events come from all over North America and around the world. The total number in 2001 was expected to top 800,000.

Although years ago there was little to do but admire floral displays, today there is much more. Often a related international theme is chosen: in the past Holland itself has often held centre stage, in 2000 the theme was Nice as the flower capital of France, and this year’s theme was the floral traditions and gardens of Britain.

A sculpted miniature tree takes flight from Major’s Hill Park.

At Major’s Hill, a large park overlooking Parliament and the Ottawa River, there was a Chelsea Flower Show garden tribute designed by a British landscape architect, an English garden painting by a UK artist re-created by a Canadian landscape architect, a Canadian garden display created by a landscape architect and then transformed onto canvass by a UK artist while spectators watched, and an international Tulip Festival Twinning with the Spalding Flower Parade in Lincolnshire. During the day an entertaining and interactive Kids Zone was filled with happy youngsters. For the adults there were a Dutch caf� and a British pub, and British comedians and buskers strolled the grounds. Twenty-four concerts were held on two stages, mostly in the evenings, with bands from Canada, the USA, Britain and the Caribbean. Throughout the week admission was free during the day, with small charges for weekends and evening concerts.

That wasn’t all. On the final Saturday evening a procession of illuminated boats provided a joyful spectacle around Dow’s Lake near the south part of town. Then on Sunday a colourful flotilla of some sixty boats � old and new, large and small, Canadian and foreign, all appropriately decorated � cruised the five miles from Dow’s Lake along the Canal to the heart of the city. Most were sponsored by corporations, embassies and media, but many private boats participated too.

People walk along some of the massive tulip beds.

Tournaments and other sporting events to raise funds for charities and hospitals have long been an important part of Ottawa’s civic culture. The Tulip Festival kicks off the season with the National Capital Marathon and a series of shorter runs. This year about 13,500 persons participated, including some of the world’s top marathoners. Altogether the events raised more than $400,000.

To mark its 50th anniversary, next year the Festival will be longer and will start on May 3. It will feature the Festival of Flowers, a spectacular international event most often held in France and generally considered the equivalent of a “floral olympics”. If you are thinking of attending, you should make reservations for accommodations early. Information will be available at various sites, such as The Canadian Tulip Festival, OttawaPlus.ca or Ottawa Festivals.

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