Canadian Tulip Festival Canadian Tulip Festival is a festival celebrated in the National Capital Region of Canada (the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau ). Held annually in May . During the festival, tulip flower beds of various varieties are planted in many public places, as well as near private houses. This is the largest of the tulip festivals in the world, as the number of flowers planted reaches over 1 million, [1] and the number of spectators exceeds 500 thousand annually. [2]
History
In 1945, the royal family of the Netherlands sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa in gratitude to the Canadian people who sheltered the family during the occupation. In 1943, Princess Margrit , the sister of Princess Beatrix , now Queen of the Netherlands, was born in the Ottawa City Hospital . In order for the princess to inherit Dutch citizenship, the hospital was temporarily declared an international zone.
In 1946, the royal family sent another 20 thousand bulbs to arrange a flower bed in the hospital, and promised to send an additional 10 thousand each year.
Subsequently, the cultivation of tulips in Ottawa became a tradition, and in 1953 the Ottawa Council of Entrepreneurs and photographer Malak Karsh (brother of the world-famous photo portraitist Yusuf Karsh ) organized the first Canadian Tulip Festival. Queen Juliana attended the festival in 1967, and Princess Margrit arrived in 2002.
Key Events
Flower beds with tulips of various varieties are planted in many public places of Ottawa and Gatineau. Public events are organized in a number of places. The largest such places are the Commissioner Park on Lake Dow , as well as a number of other places along the Rideau Canal . During the festival, there are performances by musicians, entertainment events, the sale of kitchen products of different nations. [3]
Previously, for many years, the festival was accompanied by outdoor music concerts, however, after several years, when the weather was cold in May and a small number of visitors came to concerts, in 2006 the festival was on the verge of bankruptcy, resulting in outdoor performances had to stop.
Largest tulip landing sites
- Commissar Park - Dow Lake
- Provincial Park , Parliament Hill - Metropolitan Information Center
- Park Hill Major
Entertainment Venues
- Canadian Museum of Nature
- National Gallery of Canada
- Royal Canadian Mint
- Library and Archive of Canada
- Canadian War Museum
- Canadian Museum of Civilization
Affiliate places
- Rideau Hall
- Mackenzie King Manor ( Gatineau Park )
Notes
- ↑ Tulip Times (pdf) (link not available) . Date of treatment October 12, 2010. Archived June 1, 2010.
- ↑ Canadian Tulip Festival. Showcasing Canada's Capital Region . Press release . Retrieved 2007-05-18 . (inaccessible link - history )
- ↑ Tulip Times (pdf) (link not available) . Date of treatment October 12, 2010. Archived June 1, 2010.