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Every spring, Holland, Michigan, holds its annual Tulip Time Festival.
What is that, you ask? It’s a celebration of flowers and Dutch traditions, but instead of booking a flight to Europe, you’ll find this festival along the banks of Lake Michigan.
The Tulip Time Festival has been going strong for nearly 100 years. The first one, in 1929, was the brainchild of local resident Lida Rogers, who suggested to her Women’s Literary Club that the city adopt the tulip as its official flower owing to its ties with The Netherlands.
Everyone bought into the idea, and the first crop featured 100,000 tulips. Today, there are millions of blooms every spring.
The festival has since shaped itself into a celebration of all things Dutch. Klompen dancers were added in 1933 when high school gym teacher Esther Perry taught 12 people to clog dance. That number has since ballooned from a modest dozen to more than a thousand.
Here’s how you can join the festivities, too.
The Tulip Time Festival, not surprisingly, lines up with the flowers’ peak season. It runs for about a week, during the first full week in May.
There’s so much to do during the course of the festival. Here are some of the attractions you’ll have to see.
The festival features everyday Dutch traditions such as a Dutch marketplace, dancing performances, and culinary experiences.
The Dutch market is at the heart of the festival. There are so many things to see, smell, and taste. It is the perfect place to pick up a few snacks and souvenirs.
The Klompen Dancers are basically like a flash mob of people dressed in traditional Dutch clothing and wooden clogs. Well, a flash mob on a schedule. The dancers appear multiple times a day to dance in the streets of Holland for 15-minute increments.
If the dancers delight you, you even have the opportunity to jump in after their performance to learn a few Klompen dance moves of your own.
The carnival is another event that takes place every day of the festival. Purchase tickets to exchange for games and rides.
Another great part of the carnival is the bleachers. Seriously! There are not many seating areas at the festival, so take advantage of the bleachers near the carnival to have a little rest and recharge while people watching.
Take a guided city bus tour of the Tulip Lanes and Historic Holland. Your driver will be clad in traditional Dutch garments and full of knowledge of Holland, Michigan. You can take a tour at any time and day between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
This annual competition features artwork by local artists. You can view the entries hanging in the Holland Area Art gallery while it’s waiting to be voted on for Viewer’s Choice Award.
The gallery is open every day, but only for a few hours at a time. Make sure to check the hours for the days of your trip.
Goat yoga and bunny yoga and all those wellness novelties are fun. Why not find your Zen among the tulips, too? There are multiple opportunities during the festival to participate in a 60-minute, guided yoga session.
Don’t forget to stop and smell the tulips!
My first trip to the Tulip Time Festival took place in 2016. My then-boyfriend surprised me with the perfect engagement ring on the first day of our trip. We spent the rest of our long weekend newly betrothed, admiring the beauty of Holland.
We walked from our hotel to downtown Holland. Our path was guided by tulips lining the road to the festival, bathing the streets in color. After meandering our way through the marketplace, we discovered our favorite aspect of the Tulip Time Festival — the fields of tulips.
The history and festivities were enjoyable, but we came to see tulips — and Holland delivered! The vibrant colors blanketing the waterfront of Lake Macatawa reflected our bliss as a newly engaged couple. We could not get enough of the tulips and spent most of our time surrounded by their radiance.
Holland, Michigan, is a beautiful destination, and the Tulip Time Festival is the perfect time to pay it a visit.
Looking for more event travel ideas? Check out our blog on a year’s worth of festivals around the world, or see where you can catch incredible natural phenomena for a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
Jessalyn Inman has always loved writing and visiting new places. A few of her other favorite things include hanging out with her cats, watching true crime documentaries, and playing roller derby.
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