April 16th -
May 8th
Along the route
This year a beautiful car route has been mapped out. Normally there are plenty of activities during the Tulip Festival, but unfortunately this is not possible this year due to the measures surrounding Covid-19. The organization has come up with great alternatives for everyone, that are mainly possible from the car. For example, this year there will be the Tulip Festival App with information about the Noordoostpolder and tulip cultivation.
When the tulips are in bloom, they will provide a sea of color in the Noordoostpolder. That’s why the theme “Tulip-and-Sea” has been chosen for the year 2021.
Are the tulips in bloom?
Tulips are very photogenic. We cannot guarantee that they will all bloom at the same time. This mainly depends on the weather. During the Tulip Festival we will inform you which part of the tulip fields are (approximately) in bloom. View the flowering percentage here.
Coronavirus
Let’s work together to ensure that everyone can safely enjoy the tulips in the Noordoostpolder! View the tulips from the car as much as possible and avoid crowded places.
We also follow the guidelines of the RIVM and would like to ask everyone to adhere to them
Incredibly popular!
History of the tulip
Tulips are originally from Turkey and were only introduced to our country in the sixteenth century. The word tulip comes from the Latin word Tulipa: the flower that resembles a turban.
The tulip came to the Netherlands in the sixteenth century. The botanist Carolus Clusius played an important role in this. Through his network, the tulip ended up with many well-off families in our country. In the seventeenth century the tulip became so popular that a real trade started, with a lot of money being paid for a single tulip. After the trade, the tulip remained popular in the Netherlands. Commercial cultivation expanded in the nineteenth century from Haarlem towards the Flower Bulb region and in the 20th century also ended up in other parts of the Netherlands, such as the head of North Holland and West Friesland.
Tulips in the Noordoostpolder
The polder officially fell dry on September 9, 1942. After that the Noordoostpolder was set up and developed at lightning speed. This created a unique agricultural area. The first tulips were planted in the polder in the early 1960s. The land in the Noordoostpolder is particularly suitable for this. Today, about 2000 hectares of tulips are planted every year. Together these yield nearly 1 billion sellable bulbs. In addition to tulips, lilies, gladioli and grape hyacinths are also grown in the Noordoostpolder. The Noordoostpolder is the third largest flower bulb growing area in the Netherlands in terms of area.
Tulips in winter
Tulips mainly bloom in the spring. Nevertheless, it has been possible for a long time to also buy blooming tulips at other times of the year: this is the work of tulip growers. They buy tulip bulbs in the summer to make them bloom in the winter. The tulip bulbs receive a temperature treatment in a cold environment in the autumn. The bulb then thinks it is winter. After that cold, the breeder takes the tulips to a warm greenhouse where the bulb turns into a blooming tulip within a few weeks. The flowers are cut and sold in bunches. The process starts again in the summer.