WHAT IS THE SKAGIT VALLEY TULIP FESTIVAL?
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is one of the destination events for the Pacific Northwest. The Tulip Festival is the celebration of millions of tulips bursting into bloom.
When I moved back to Inland Northwest, visiting the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival got added to my adventure list real fast! We did a lot of adventuring growing up, but my appreciation for the state and the variety of things it has to offer is much clearer now as an adult! If you’re not familiar, the Tulip Festival takes place each Spring in April (sometimes it starts the last week of March) in the Skagit Valley, which is about an hour north of Seattle. They have a variety of events that happen locally each year, but the main draw is to visit the farms with rows and rows of all of those beautiful tulips! And yes, they really are THAT pretty! 🌷🌷🌷Now that I’ve visited and am clearly an expert on all things tulips now (only kidding), I wanted to share some of my advice so you can plan the best trip up there too!
PREPARE FOR TRAFFIC & CROWDS
Let’s just get this out of the way… there’s going to be traffic and crowds! it’s going to happen. You’re visiting farmlands full of a lot of two-lane roads that are seeing more traffic now than any other time of the year. So just go into your adventure knowing it’s going to happen, make some good Pandora stations and you’ll be just fine. Obviously, the weekends are the most packed — especially on those rare sunny April days too so just be prepared for that. If you happen to have a job with days off during the week, I’ve heard that’s a great time to go, we went there during the week (Thursday & Friday) but between 11- 1 pm the place was so crowded already. yep, you guessed it that crowd part comes into play. Everyone just wants to see those pretty flowers so give each other a break and just acknowledge the inevitable. That being said, we got there around 8:15 on a Friday and the traffic wasn’t bad at all and we easily got a parking space. Realistically you’re not going to be there more than an hour or two so people luckily are in and out. The fields can get crowded but they’re so big that there’s plenty of room for everyone! We’re not talking Times Squares packed.
PICK WHICH FIELD YOU’RE GOING TO
The next big question is which farm to go to. There are two main ones, Tulip Town and Roozengaarde and they’re not too far from each other. We went to Tulip Town & Roozengaarde for our trip, but the main differences are Roozengaarde’s fields are a lot bigger and Tulip Town is smaller (but still big) but they have a lot more color variety. Tulip Town also has an indoor display and some other family-friendly activities too. I don’t think you can really go wrong whichever you decide though. Their hours are a little different, but everything else is pretty similar so feel free to check out the info below to make your decision!
Roozengaarde
Admission: $15/person, kids under 2 free
Free parking
Tulip Town
Admission: $10/person, kids 6-11 $5, kids under 5 free
Hours: 8 am-7 pm 7/days a week
Free parking
IS THE SKAGIT VALLEY TULIP FESTIVAL KID-FRIENDLY?
YES, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is kid-friendly and children will have plenty of fun at the tulip fields. Check out a whole list of kid-friendly activities here. Note: Strollers are allowed inside the tulip gardens and bringing a stroller might be helpful (especially if you have a kid like mine haha) but it isn’t easy to navigate through the fields. So be prepared for it.
WHAT TO WEAR TO THE TULIP FESTIVAL?
You can rest assured that I will share the best tips regarding what to wear when you are visiting the tulip festival…
Wandering amidst the bright and colorful (acres of) tulip fields on an early spring day calls for comfort and style! It’s no secret that pastels are a spring favorite (not to forget a spring essential at that). But if you want to stand out in between the myriad of colors then wear something white. A flowy maxi dress with a hat or nice accessories would be perfect! Or blend in by wearing something more colorful or flowery and become one among the tulips! The weather is unpredictable so definitely wear/bring layers. Be prepared to pop out an umbrella in case it rains and have your rain boots handy (if not already wearing one) as the fields can be muddy.
Pro tip: Bring a change of clothes and shoes so you can get your photos taken in different outfits with the stunning background of flowers, colors, and mountains.
RESPECT THE FIELDS
Now, don’t worry you’re going to get all of the picture-perfect Instagram pictures you want… but remember to also respect the fields. There are signs everywhere to not walk down the rows, buttttt let’s just say a lot of people ignored that, and being a true 1 on the Enneagram scale, you know I had to bring some attention to that! So here’s the deal, stay out of the rows! They say you can step 1-2 feet into them to get your photos, but any further than that you risk stepping on other bulbs and damaging future crops. Just don’t do it. RoozenGaarde did a great post on their Facebook page with more info and tips for getting the pics you want while protecting the fields.
The tulips are truly gorgeous so I highly recommend checking them out if you get the chance. Plus, the area up there in general is just such a breath of fresh air so it’s worth a visit even outside of tulip season. These days, I’m such a sucker for exploring smaller adorable towns and just taking in all that Washington has to offer and this adventure definitely fit the bill.
“The most important thing to remember is that you can wear all the greatest clothes and all the greatest shoes, but you’ve got to have a good spirit on the inside. That’s what’s really going to make you look like you’re ready to rock the world.” —Alicia Keys
OMG this place looks unreal!!!! I wish I could see it with my own eyes one day, breathtaking xx
Maria xx
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