It’s the first day of May and also the start of the annual Tulip Time Festival in the central Iowa town of Pella. Festival director Patsy Sadler says things are underway with warm weather after some cold conditions earlier in the week. There was frost on one of those cold nights, but Sadler says it didn’t do any damage to the flowers that are the centerpiece of the event.
Sadler says it was nothing for the Tulips, and says the good thing is that it wasn’t a below-sero winchill. Some 100,000 tulip bulbs are planted in the fall to prepare for the springtime ritual. She says they’re looking really good with some blooming with good color and some still opening up.
There are many events throughout the festival which runs through Sunday, including two daily parades. Sadler says the first parade starts at about 2:30 and the next parade begins around eight or eight-thirty, whenever it gets dark as it is a lighted parade.
Sadler says they expect to see about as many visitors as they have tulips for the event, some 100,000 or more visitors throughout the three days. This is the 73rd annual Tulip Time Festival. For more information on the events, go to the festival’s website.