Tesselaar Tulip Festival

Overview

Already dreaming of warmer days? The annual Tesselaar Tulip Festival is set to feature close to one million tulips planted across five acres of farmland, offering the perfect excuse to wander through endless fields of flowers to celebrate the start of spring.

The tulip farm will come alive for its famous festivities from Saturday, September 14–Sunday, October 13, with a calendar of themed weekends promising something for all.

Running September 14–15, Turkish Weekend will dish up a program of art, music and food in honour of the country that played host to the first tulip festival over 400 years ago.

Then, Dutch Weekend (September 21–22) will transport you straight to Holland, homeland of the festival's founders Cees and Johanna Tesselaar. Get set for clog dancing, sjoekbak (Dutch shuffleboard) and, in a recreation of Amsterdam's famed Alkmaar Cheese Market, a host of traditional eats — previous years included oliebollen (Dutch dumplings), bitterballen (meatballs), poffertjes and Tesselaar's signature Double Dutch ice cream.

More great eating awaits at Food, Wine & Jazz Weekend (September 27–29), where you'll enjoy local drinks and gastronomical delights among the tulips.

Also on the bill: a couple of Children's Weeks, a weekend devoted to retro rock 'n' roll, and an Irish Weekend filled with craic. And as always, the month-long series of flower-filled events are dog-friendly.