Follow these insider tips to Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

  • By Gale Fiege Herald Writer
  • Thursday, March 27, 2014 4:46pm
  • Life

Need a break from the bleak?

Spring is nowhere more vibrant than in Skagit County.

Having lived nearly 30 years on the route to the nearby tulip fields, I offer the following tips and recommendations for a day in Skagit Valley during this year’s Tulip Festival.

For starters, don’t go this weekend.

A quick look around my neighborhood in the past few days revealed not one field tulip in bloom.

Wait at least a week, unless you are interested in the tail end of the daffodil displays, which actually look pretty great against gray skies.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival runs April 1 through 30 with activities in Mount Vernon, Burlington, Sedro-Woolley, La Conner, Edison and Anacortes. Tons of information, including a listing of events, is available at www.tulipfestival.org.

Hundreds of acres of spectacular tulip fields will be yours to enjoy.

You won’t want to miss out.

For the best experience, however, here are some suggestions:

Bring your boots. The rain will be with us for a while and the fields can be muddy.

Visit the bulb growers first. Stop at the Roozen family’s Washington Bulb Co./ Roozengarde at 15867 Beaver Marsh Road or the DeGoede family’s Skagit Valley Bulb Farm/Tulip Town at 15002 Bradshaw Road. Admission is $5 for adults but free for children at both places. Order bulbs, buy a bouquet, pick up a free field tour map and check out the display gardens.

Go in the morning or in the evening. You’ll encounter less traffic and your tulip photographs will be better. High-noon photos tend to wash out the amazing floral color.

Visit on a weekday if you can. Weekends after 11 a.m. get crazy with traffic. Local people are mostly kind, helpful and patient unless you forget that all this is happening in their front yards.

The tulip fields are located primarily within a 15-mile triangle bordered by the north fork of the Skagit River, the Swinomish Channel and Highway 20. The tulips won’t all bloom at once. You can count on about two full weeks of color once the individual fields start showing. Farmers have to behead the flowers at some point in order to keep the bulbs healthy, and that is after all, why they are growing them.

A few of the roads have 50 mph speed limits and that’s how fast the locals tend to drive. Keep your children safe by keeping them in the car on these roads.

Shoulder parking is very limited. Obey the no-parking signs or expect a visit from a deputy with his ticket book. Parking should be ample at most fields. If you visit Roozengarde first, you will have a ticket stub to show for free parking near the various Washington Bulb Co. tulip fields.

La Conner isn’t home base for the festival. If the town is crowded, remember that you can enjoy plenty of festival activities in the other cities.

Finally, check the Skagit Valley Tulips off your list from Buzzfeed’s “29 Surreal Places in America You Need to Visit Before You Die.” It’s No. 4.

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.

More than tulips

If the roads around the fields are packed, check out these festival activities:

  • Anacortes Quilt Walk, on now throughout downtown Anacortes
  • Art in a Pickle Barn, celebrating its 25th year, on now at Azusa Farm, 14904 Highway 20, west of Mount Vernon
  • Art Bash at the Farmhouse restaurant, 13724 La Conner-Whitney Road
  • WSU Extension and Research Station Discovery Garden, 16650 Highway 536, west of Mount Vernon
  • Beginning April 5, see the Anacortes Arts Festival show, 611 R Ave., Anacortes.
  • Art in the Schoolhouse at Christianson’s Nursery, 15806 Best Road, west of Mount Vernon
  • Art Walk along Fairhaven Avenue in downtown Burlington
  • Woodfest, 1235 Third St., Sedro-Woolley
  • Skagit County has many fine restaurants and little eateries, but you will do yourself a favor to hit the Kiwanis salmon barbecue, beginning April 5 at Hillcrest Lodge 1717 S. 13th St., Mount Vernon.

The Herald plans to run other Tulip Festival events in our Friday Arts &Entertainment guide throughout April.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Sarah Jean Muncey-Gordon puts on some BITCHSTIX lip oil at Bandbox Beauty Supply on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Langley, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bandbox Beauty was made for Whidbey Island locals, by an island local

Founder Sarah Muncey-Gordon said Langley is in a renaissance, and she’s proud to be a part of it.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

Byrds co-founder Roger McGuinn, seen here in 2013, will perform April 20 in Edmonds. (Associated Press)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

R0ck ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn, frontman of The Byrds, plans a gig in Edmonds in April.

Mother giving in to the manipulation her daughter fake crying for candy
Can children be bribed into good behavior?

Only in the short term. What we want to do is promote good habits over the course of the child’s life.

Speech Bubble Puzzle and Discussion
When conflict flares, keep calm and stand your ground

Most adults don’t like dissension. They avoid it, try to get around it, under it, or over it.

The colorful Nyhavn neighborhood is the place to moor on a sunny day in Copenhagen. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves: Embrace hygge and save cash in Copenhagen

Where else would Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid statue and lovingly decorated open-face sandwiches be the icons of a major capital?

Last Call is a festured artist at the 2024 DeMiero Jazz Festival: in Edmonds. (Photo provided by DeMiero Jazz Festival)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Jazz ensemble Last Call is one of the featured artists at the DeMiero Jazz Festival on March 7-9 in Edmonds.

Kim Helleren
Local children’s author to read at Edmonds Bookshop

Kim Helleren will read from one of her books for kids at the next monthly Story Time at Edmonds Bookshop on March 29.

Chris Elliott
Lyft surprises traveler with a $150 cleaning charge

Jared Hakimi finds a $150 charge on his credit card after a Lyft ride. Is that allowed? And will the charge stick?

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.