The Abbotsford Tulip Festival, which announced its closure in 2021, is back this year due to popular demand and in a new location.
The event runs from April 14 to May 14 on the Lakeland Flowers property at 3663 Marion Rd. on Sumas Prairie and kicks off a six-month season of flower festivals at that location.
The Tulip Festival will feature more than 27 acres of 70 tulip varieties. Festival highlights include kilometres of walking trails, specialty varietals that have been imported from Holland – including fringe tulips and double tulips – and a legacy tulip named after Peter Warmerdam, a Dutch immigrant who started the family flower farm in the 1950s.
Lakeland Flowers is now owned by Peter’s son, Nick Warmerdam.
The festival was previously held on a 10-acre farm on North Parallel Road. It ran at that location from 2016 to 2019, attracting up to 100,000 visitors each year.
The event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. The following year, founder Alexis Szarek (formerly Warmerdam) – Nick’s daughter – announced that the festival was closing due to economic uncertainty and the sale of the land to new owners.
Szarek and her family relocated to Armstrong, where they hoped to eventually hold a similar event.
RELATED: Abbotsford Tulip Festival is closing, with plans to rebloom in Armstrong
Nick Warmerdam said Lakeland Flowers initially planned to host smaller crowds to enjoy their flower field.
“After hearing how the crowds wished that Abbotsford still had a tulip festival, we decided to bring it back and planted tulips, winter canola, daffodils, blooming cover crops, hydrangea, peonies, lavender and sunflowers,” he said.
Lakeland Flowers opened in the spring of 2021 with a smaller u-pick operation, but could not move forward the following year due to the devastating floods that occurred in November.
The team overcame these challenges and planted more than 100 acres — 27 acres of tulips, 20 acres of sunflowers, and five- to 10-acre plots of various other flowers.
After tulip season ends, visitors are invited back to experience the other flower festivals.
“We love seeing families and friends create memories at the farm. Visitors will be able to see the flowers from multiple angles,” Warmerdam said.
Craig Nichols, executive director of Tourism Abbotsford, said the original Abbotsford Tulip Festival was a great success, drawing hundreds of thousands of people to view the 10 acres of flowers.
RELATED: Inaugural Abbotsford Tulip Festival drew 90,000 people
”Owner and organizer Alexis Szarek did an excellent job of creating and operating this festival. To have a tulip festival of this size (in 2023) is fantastic and we are excited to welcome the crowds back to Abbotsford,” he said.
The Abbotsford Tulip Festival is open every day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Free on-site parking is available.
Photo spots include bicycles and swings. Visitors are also welcome to pack a picnic and, on select weekends, guests can enjoy live music nights and food truck meals.
Online tickets are available starting Friday, April 7 with tiered pricing options for weekdays and weekends. Prices range from $8 to $25. Kids three and under are free.
It is recommended that visitors purchase tickets online, to not only receive reduced pricing, but to secure a time slot.
Daily field reports will be provided on the Lakeland Flowers’ website and social media channels. Visit lakelandflowers.ca to purchase tickets.
vikki.hopes@abbynews.com
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