Tulips around the Symmes Museum in Aylmer
The Canadian Tulip Festival is a celebration of the return of spring, with over a million tulips in 50 varieties blooming in public spaces across the National Capital Region. And it's a celebration of the friendship with the Netherlands.
How it all Began:
Ottawa, Canada’s capital, gave a safe haven for the members of Holland’s exiled royal family received during World War II, and Canadian troops also played a role in the liberation of the Netherlands. Even a Dutch princess - Margriet - was born in Ottawa, and setting the flag of the Netherlands on Parliament she was technically born on Netherland's soil.
Ottawa, Canada’s capital, gave a safe haven for the members of Holland’s exiled royal family received during World War II, and Canadian troops also played a role in the liberation of the Netherlands. Even a Dutch princess - Margriet - was born in Ottawa, and setting the flag of the Netherlands on Parliament she was technically born on Netherland's soil.
In 1945 Princess Juliana of the royal family of the Netherlands gifted 100.000 Tulip bulbs to Ottawa. Tulips in Ottawa have grown to become a symbol of peace, freedom and international friendship. Since then each year, the Dutch Royal Family and the Dutch Growers Association each send 10,000 more tulip bulbs to Ottawa.
The highest concentration of tulips can be viewed in the flower beds of the Commissioners Park, on the banks of Dows Lake, where 300,000 flowers bloom.
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