There wasn’t a better way to kick off the spring season than taking a day trip out to Holland, Michigan for the annual Tulip Festival Tulip Time. This weeklong festival runs from May 7-14 2016 and falls during the tulips’ peek blooming time.

Throughout the week of the festival there are several events going on throughout the town. On the opening day when I went, there was a carnival and arts and craft fair going on in addition to seeing the tulips and the Dutch town.

We drove out to Michigan in the afternoon so a lot of the scheduled events like parades were already over. We parked along a street by Hope College. The street and several others were lined with vibrant colored tulips in various stages of bloom.

Since none of us had been to the festival or the town of Holland Michigan before, the layout of everything was strange to us and we may have wondered in the wrong direction for a while. After stumbling around the carnival area and finding a help center we figured out which way to go to see plenty of tulips and Dutch heritage.

We decided to walk everywhere for the day although driving was recommended. There was also trolley shuttle service provided. The walks between the various activities weren’t particularly far though. At most we walked maybe twenty to thirty minutes from one place to the next.

The rows of flowers were lovely, but some were sadly already dead or dying. If you are planning on going this year or in a following year I’d recommend going towards the beginning just to make sure everything is blooming when you are there.

In all, the entire town was crowded with people enjoying the spring day and everything the festival has to offer. We ended up finishing the day in the Dutch Town over on Windmill Island which closed at 7. Then we wandered back into town to eat at 8th Street Grille, which was very good, before driving back home.

 

Lovely day, perfect Mother’s Day Weekend, and so so so many flowers! Can’t wait to go back next year and spend a little more time exploring everything Tulip Time has to offer!

Do you know of any other cool festivals coming up in the midwest this spring season? Let me know in the comments since I would love to check them out! >>