Holland's Tulip Festival Is Acres And Acres Of Kaleidoscope Colors From The Gardens' Millions Of Blooms

Jun 11, 2019 by apost team

Keukenhof, Holland, is one of the most extensive flower gardens in the world. This area, where millions of flowers are planted every year, covers almost 79 acres of land. The area also hosts an annual festival where visitors can explore the beautiful gardens.

According to Holland's Visitor's Guide, the tulip was initially brought to Holland from the Ottoman Empire, known today as Turkey. The name 'tulip' comes from the Persian word, tulipan, which means turban.

If you study the shape of its bulb, you can see that it does resemble a turban. They became so popular in Holland that they created a craze known as Tulip Mania. They were so prized that they became a unit of currency for a time until the bubble burst.

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The history of the Keukenhof Gardens dates back to the 15th century. The Keukenhof Gardens website says:

"The history of Keukenhof dates back to the 15th century. Countess Jacoba van Beieren [Jacqueline of Bavaria] (1401-1436) gathered fruit and vegetables from the Keukenduin [kitchen dunes] for the kitchen of Teylingen Castle. Keukenhof Castle was built in 1641 and the estate grew to encompass an area of over 200 hectares. Landscape architects Jan David Zocher and his son Louis Paul Zocher, who also designed Amsterdam's Vondelpark, redesigned the castle gardens in 1857. That park, in the English landscape style, still constitutes the basis of Keukenhof." It would take almost 100 years for the estate to develop into the bustling, world-famous attraction that it is today.

The Gardens' history reads that in 1949, flower exporters hatched a plan to turn the estate into a flower exhibit. A year later the park opened its doors to the public, with 236,000 visitors in the first year you could say the gardens were a tremendous hit. 

Today, the park opens its gates every spring to allow visitors to see the "800 varieties of tulips." Even with the bountiful varieties of flowers, the park is still best known for its tulips. Tulips have a short blooming season of only a couple of months. Keukenhof Gardens is only open to the public during the tulip blooming season when they hold the festival. 

Every year their tulip festival has a different theme. The theme for the 2019 festival was Flower Power.

Though it recently ended, next year's theme is World of Colors and the festival will begin on Saturday, April 25, 2020. However, according to their website, the gardens will be opened from 21 March - 20 May 2020. What are you waiting for? Start planning your trip! 

Do you plan to make a trip to Holland's Tulip Festival next year? Tell us in the comments below!