The annual Orange City Tulip Festival, celebrating the town’s Dutch heritage, is underway.
Spokesperson Avery Kelch says thousands of tulips are blooming in this good weather. “Windmill Park is where a majority of our tulips are found, and then we also have quite a few tulips lining the streets as well,” she says. The Dutch Heritage Society brought in one special tulip this year, which is bred and named after Orange City. “It’s called the Oranjestad Tulip and it’s the first time this year that it was planted, and it blossomed in Orange City. It was bred in the Netherlands and so we just brought it back and we just had a christening about a week ago for it. It’s kind of like an apricot, orange-ish yellow,” she says.
Most of the events get underway on Thursday. “A really fun activity that I recommend seeing is the Dutch street scrubbing. It’s a generational volunteer activity and you’ll see generations of Dutch heritage and families coming together and scrubbing the streets to ensure that they’re clean for the Queen in Court,” Kelch says. “And then the Dutch dancing is also a super fun activity to watch. It’s elementary and middle school kids who come together and dance. ”
Kelch says there’s plenty of food this year, too. “The brats, which are a super popular choice and something I would strongly recommend enjoying at the festival, and then they have Brad Bakery, which has like Dutch puppies and all the traditional Dutch food and desserts. The Orange City Tulip Festival runs through Saturday.
You can find the full schedule at OCtulipfestival.com.