Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

I notice there's an article about the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in the April Sunset magazine. We've had a warm spring, so the big tulip fields 60 miles north of Seattle are blooming now. My sister and I drove up there last year, and made a long day of it. After years in the Northwest, I'm ashamed to say that was the first time I went. It's a bit of a trek up the freeway to Mt. Vernon, and the "festival" only lasts a short time so you have to plan ahead, with weather a factor.

But the drive is worth it, especially if you luck out with a sunny day like we had last April. An early start is a good idea, because on weekend afternoons hoards of people arrive in cars and buses.

Flowering bulbs have been cultivated in the Skagit Valley for decades, so this is really about agriculture. Over the years, the "tulip festival" attached to bulb growing has evolved into a big attraction, and taken on a life of it's own (as festivals tend to do.)

There are a few crowded display gardens and places to buy things, but the vast blooming bulb fields are the main attraction. It's almost impossible to take a bad picture.
When the peak of bloom has passed, the flower head is unceremoniously whacked off by field workers so the valuable bulbs can develop. We lived in the Skagit Valley briefly in the 70's, and bulb farm work was a seasonal job for the local teenagers. Not anymore...
I think these are the same hard-working folks who pick our lettuce in California.