Tulip Festival in Holland MI, May 1-8, 2010

By Dave Pipitone

If you love tulips, early May in 2010 is your time. The first week of May is prime time for Tulip festival in Holland MI. In fact, that week is Tulip Time which is the official celebration of one of the largest the Dutch heritage in the midwestern United States. If you have never attended this event, you can see some wonderful Tulip fields in full bloom.

Every Holland Michigan tulip is on display, depending on the weather and growing season. After a challenging, cold winter we are looking forward to the 2010 tulip blooming season. The Holland tulip festival is on track for May 1 - May 8, 2010. This year marks the 81st Anniversary of Tulip Time.

The city of Holland has lined up a variety of entertainment, events and ethnic celebrations for families and tulip lovers. Here are a few highlights planned for 2010.

Festival Holland Tulip Viewing

The Holland, MI area boasts more than 5,000,000 tulips on display throughout the city's parks, attractions and local residences.

Enjoy over half a million tulips in City parks, public areas, and along City streets. Premier tulip plantings at Window on the Waterfront and Centennial Park. Tulip Lanes start on 12th St & River Ave, where six miles of tulips in brilliant array line Holland's streets.

You can visit the Veldheer Tulip Farm which plants millions of tulip bulbs every fall and features numerous gardens thick with yellow Big Smile, orange Apricot Dream, red Appeldorn, and literally dozens of other varieties and colors. The tulip farm began in 1945 with 100 red tulips and 300 white tulips.

Today, the farm has displays of Darwin Hybrid tulips, lily tulips, parrot tulips, peony (double) tulips, Triumph tulips and specialty tulips. The gardens also feature white, pink and blue hyacinths, daffodils and narcissi.

Each patch is labeled with a numbered stake and visitors can match the number with a printed guide sheet to learn the name, colors and growing statistics of the tulip flowers. Visitors can order Holland tulip bulbs from the guidesheet, which are shipped the following September.

Visit the Tulip Farm and take in additional attractions, all for the same admission price. Your visit will include the only Delftware factory in the U.S.A., Michigan's newest buffalo attractionand a free wooden shoe factory tour. Admission is $8.00 for adults and $4.00 for children, ages 3-13. The Farm is located at 12775 Quincy Street and U.S. Route 31 about 3 miles north of Holland. The Farm is open from 9 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Visit the Veldeer Tulip Farm website at www.Veldheer.com.

Another place to view tulips during Tulip Time is Nelis' Dutch Village in Holland, Michigan. Dutch Village is a family place with building, authentic Dutch food, Delftware, working street organs, a wooden Shoe Factory, bell tower and lots of attractions for children and adults. Dutch Village offers a quaint setting that has buildings modeled after 1800's Netherlands cottage architecture.

There are several, smaller patches of tulips that are spread throughout the Village and identified by numbered stakes so that visitors know what the tulips are. Dutch Village is on US 31 on the northern edge of Holland. Admission for adults is $10; $9 for seniors; $7 for children ages 3-15 Vist www.DutchVillage.com.

A third scenic spot to view tulips during the Holland Tulip Festival is Windmill Island. Located just off 7th Street, Windmill Island offers a shopping area, historic architecture including the Posthouse museum (14th century replica of a wayside inn.

Windmill Island is the home of De Zwaan, a 240 year-old working windmill from the Netherlands. The space offers 175,000 tulips during spring and annuals during the summer. Admission is $7.50 for adults and $4.50 for children, ages 5-15. The Island is open from 9:30 a.m. until 5:p.m. Visit WindmillIsland.com.

Entertainment at the Tulip Time Festival

Take in a fantastic concert by three legends of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! The Drifters, the Platters and the Coasters perform live at the Central Weslyan Church in Holland. All three groups had numerous Top 40 hits during their day. The concert begins at 7:00 p.m and is scheduled to last 2 and a half hours! Tickets are just $35 per person to participate in this historic gathering. Discounts are available for groups of 20 or more.

If you like outdoor concerts, make sure to take in the Tulipalooza Outdoor Concerts during the evening. Each concert is held at the stage on 6th Street and Columbia Avenue in downtown Holland. The concerts begin at 5:00 p.m. on May 6, 7, and 8.

If you have the time to visit the tulip festival in Holland MI, your celebration of Spring 2010 will be a joyful one. Click here to visit the Tulip Time website.

Tulip Festival in Holland MI, May 1-8, 2010

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