This post may contain affiliate links. When you purchase something through these links, I receive a small commission that helps me create this blog’s content. There’s no extra cost to you. Read my privacy policy to learn more.
Last Updated: 2/27/2026
Everything You Need to Know To Experience Skagit Valley Tulips
One April many years ago I drove through the Skagit Valley tulip fields on my way to the San Juan Islands north of Seattle, Washington. Those fleeting glimpses of rainbow-hued acres of blooming tulips whet my appetite. When I returned in April 2024 to see the famous tulips up close and personal, I was delighted to discover that the Skagit Valley community hosts a monthlong festival celebrating their tulips each April.
For a long weekend, my mom, sister-in-law, and I immersed ourselves in everything tulip at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. We quickly learned this festival is more a celebration of the annual tulip bloom than it is a specific itinerary of activities. While there are some specific festival events like a parade, art exhibit, and street fair, the main thing to do is visit the various participating tulip farms and enjoy the small towns that dot Skagit Valley.
If you’re heading to the 2026 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and wondering what exactly you’re getting into, I’m here to answer all your questions . . . because I had them before my visit too!
I’m covering what exactly you do at the tulip festival (hint – take lots of photos); all the logistics like when to go, how to avoid crowds (and wet feet), where to stay, and tickets; a list of 2026 festival events and farms, and my personal favorite activities (hello salmon barbeque!). I even made you a map of festival locations around Skagit Valley.
If you love flowers and the Pacific Northwest . . . or if you’ve always dreamed of seeing the tulip fields in the Netherlands but just can’t make the logistics work, it’s time to discover the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival this spring!
2026 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival Visitor Information
Festival Dates and Hours
April 1 – 30, 2026
It’s important to realize this isn’t a traditional festival. This isn’t a centralized event with street vendors and carnival rides, instead, it’s a general celebration of the valley’s tulip bloom. The tulip bloom can begin in late March and stretch into early May, but all official tulip festival events occur in April.
The area holds many special events this month and also strives to direct visitors to small businesses. All tulip-focused events and activities are listed on the official Skagit Valley Tulip Festival website.
Hours of operations vary depending on which farm or participating business you’re visiting.
Festival Office/Headquarters
If you’re coming into the area specifically for the tulip festival, your first stop should be at the Tulip Festival office in downtown Mount Vernon at 311 W Kincaid St. The office is open from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. every day of April.
Here staff can provide you with an official festival brochure for the festival. This publication is an essential guide experiencing Skagit Valley tulips and includes a map, list of special events, and local business directory.
You can also ask festival office staff members any specific questions you might have about the area and get activity suggestions. (This is how we ended up spending a great day in La Conner, WA!)
Location
Festival events are scattered all over Skagit Valley. The main towns in the valley that host festival activities are Burlington, Mount Vernon, Sedro-Woolley, and La Conner. The four participating tulip farms are all located just west of Mount Vernon.
This fertile valley located between the North Cascade mountains and Puget Sound sits about an hour’s drive north of Seattle. The similar climate and landscape attracted many Dutch immigrants after World War II who planted tulip fields that today rival the Netherlands.
Pro tip: Skagit rhymes with “gadget.”
Directions
From Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA-TAC), Mount Vernon – where you’ll find the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival headquarters – is about a 2 hour drive up Interstate 5.
From downtown Seattle, it is about an hour and 15 minute drive to the tulip fields.
Interstate 5 is notorious for heavy traffic. If you want a less stressful and more round-about way to get the valley, consider taking a ferry from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island and coming into Skagit Valley from the west via Fidalgo Island.
The tulip festival is a very driving heavy adventure. If you are flying into Seattle, you will need a rental car. While there are plenty of tours that heads up to Skagit Valley throughout April, I think the tulips are best experienced as part of a self-guided adventure.
Tickets
There isn’t one Tulip Festival ticket that gets you access into all of Skagit Valley tulip farms and festival events.
Instead, you’ll pay for each activity individually. For example, while parking is free at the four participating tulip farms, you do need to purchase an admission ticket at each farm if you want to walk in their fields. You can do this either at the farm entrance or ahead of time through each farm’s website.
One note: you will enjoyed a slightly discounted ticket price if you visit mid-week.
Participating Farms
Garden Rosalyn
A small 6 acre tulip farm, Garden Rosalyn is known for its tulip garden displays as well as resident ducks and geese. Visitors sometimes complain that it’s overpriced for its size.
- Adult admission: $17 – 18
- Address: 16648 Jungquist Rd, Mount Vernon, WA
- Festival hours: 8 a.m – 7 p.m. every day of April
Roozengaarde
With a 5-acre display garden and 50+ acres of tulip fields, Roozengaarde is the most popular (and largest) Skagit Valley tulip farm to visit. In addition to the tulip viewing, they have a gift shop, food stand, and tulip stand. This is the farm we opted to visit and it did not disappoint!
- Adult admission: $17.50 – 21.50
- Address: 15867 Beaver Marsh Rd, Mount Vernon, WA
- Festival Hours: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday – Friday; 8 a.m – 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Tulip Town
A 6-acre farm offering trolley rides, beer and wine garden, food, and lots of shopping. Although Tulip Town‘s tulip field is quite small, this farm is popular because its fun “festival” atmosphere.
- Adult admission: $18
- Address: 15002 Bradshaw Rd, Mount Vernon, WA
- Festival Hours: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Thursday; 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Friday – Sunday
Tulip Valley Farms
Tulip Valley is the only U-pick farm in Skagit Valley. If you purchase a bouquet with your admission, you get the fun of wandering the rows of this 15-acre farm selecting the perfect blooms. Free daily tulip talks are held daily at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. They also offer food and drink and encourage folks to picnic on their grounds.
- Adult admission: $16 – 18; $31 – 33 if you want to include a 10-stem U-pick tulip bouquet
- Address: 15245 Bradshaw Rd, Mount Vernon, WA
- Festival Hours: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. every day of April. On April Saturdays the farm is also open for night bloom from 8 – 10 p.m.
Other places to see tulips
As we drove around, we also noticed a few other access points to the fields where you could park in a large parking lot (usually right next to a road intersection) and pay an admission fee at a small kiosk. We didn’t stop, but it seemed like a good option to get slightly less “people-y” photos.
Tours
Want a guided experience in the Skagit Valley tulips? These companies offer tours during the festival. If you’re staying in Seattle and just want to day trip to the tulip festival, they might even be able to pick you up at your hotel for a day of tulip peeping.
Map of Festival Locations/Activities
Self Guided Driving Tour
As you drive around Skagit Valley, you’ll notice green road signs that read “Tulip Route” with directional arrows. If you don’t want to pay for a farm admission ticket or simply want to see some blooms as you pass through, you can follow these signs for a self-guided tour of the valley’s tulip fields. It’s a great way to get a sense of the scope of the farms.
However, this is not a great way to actually get photos. You are not allowed to pull over to the side of the road to take photos. You also need to respect all no parking signs and certainly don’t take off on foot through a random field. These are working farms and what you might think of as harmlessly traipsing through tulips, farm employees will think of as trespassing.
Biking is another popular way to get around the tulip route. Just be a conscientious biker and expect these narrow roads to get quite crowded with vehicles, especially on April weekends.
Top Tulip Festival Events and Activities in 2026
Must-Do Activities
What you do at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is completely up to you!
There’s no ticket for the festival, although several event activities – like walking through the tulip fields – require individual tickets. The festival is a self-guided collection of activities, events, and special offerings from local businesses. Do as many or as few of these favorite tulip festival activities as you choose.
- Stop at the festival office in downtown Mt. Vernon for an official brochure, map, and insider advice.
- Visit at least one of the four Skagit Valley tulip farms. I recommend Roozengaarde!
- Get a grilled salmon dinner at the Kiwanis Salmon Barbecue in Mt. Vernon’s Hillcrest Park.
- Go to the annual Tulip Parade in downtown La Conner on Saturday, April 11.
- Buy official festival merchandise each year. If you’re day tripping from the Seattle area or plan to attend semi-regularly, you might like to start collecting the annual tulip festival poster.
- Brighten your home or vacation rental with some cut tulips. Pick your own bouquet at Tulip Valley farm.
- Dovetail driving the Tulip Route with other fun Skagit Valley activities like stopping by the area’s farm stands, wineries, restaurants, and shops. You could even day trip to the San Juan Islands!
Favorite Special Events
Kiwanis Salmon Barbecue in Mount Vernon
This annual fundraiser for the local Kiwanis club is held every Friday – Sunday from April 3 – May 5 at the Hillcrest Lodge in Hillcrest Park. For $26 a plate, you get a full dinner of alder-grilled Alaskan salmon, coleslaw, potatoes, garlic bread, drink, and ice cream. All proceeds go to a scholarship fund for area youth.
Honestly, I loved this. If you’ve ever been to a community fundraiser, you know the vibe. The meal was very tasty and you can’t beat the people watching.
Tea & Tulips at Willowbrook Manor
Willowbrook Manor, an imposing Victorian manor in Sedro-Woolley, just east of the tulip farms, does an English tea every Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. during the festival. If you’re interested in this offering, book well in advance. By the time I was researching tulip festival activities about a month out from our visit, they were all booked up for our dates.
Tulip Festival Original Art Exhibition
A free exhibit of the artwork that has been used for the official Tulip Festival poster since 1984 along with other Skagit Valley tulip inspired artwork. The exhibition is on display in Anacortes at the Depot Art Center from April 3 -12 and in Mount Vernon at Dry Inside from April 16 – 30.
Skagit Chili and Chowder Cookoff
Held from 1 – 4 p.m. on April 4 at Farmstrong Brewing Company in Mount Vernon, you can sample six different chilis and chowders and vote to name the next 2026 Skagit Valley chili and chowder champs.
Tulip Parade
This annual parade is held at noon in downtown La Conner on Saturday, April 11.
Tulip Festival Street Fair
If you’re looking for true festival vibes, this is the Tulip Festival event to attend! Held April 17 -19 in downtown Mount Vernon, the street fair features food trucks, craft booths, special events, live music, and more.
PNW Artisan Marketplace
A month-long pop-up market in vinery building at Christianson’s Nursery, the PNW Artisan Marketplace features more than a 100 local artists selling everything from jewelry to gourmet dog treats. It’s open daily from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., March 27 – April 26.
Plan Your April Visit to Washington Tulip Country
When To Visit
If you do any research about the tulip festival before your visit, you’ll notice that everyone harps on one fact: when the tulips bloom depends on Mother Nature. Just like fall colors, it’s easy to give a general time range of when the blooms should be happening, but so many factors influence the bloom that it’s almost impossible to predict when peak color will occur each year.
Some years the tulips are blooming by April 1. Other years, you might find tight buds in early April, but have blooms lingering well into May. You can track this year’s bloom status on the Festival website.
Personally, I’d lean towards visiting earlier in the month than later. The tulip farms all plant daffodils that precede the tulip bloom so if you’re too early for tulips, you can still enjoy those. However, if you’re too late, you’re just too late.
We visited over the first weekend of April and caught the tail end of the daffodils and had a pretty spectacular tulip bloom as well. We thought it looked like peak colors, but the employees we talked to at the farm definitely didn’t agree with us!
How Much Time Do You Need?
We devoted about half a day to tulip festival activities and spent about an hour and 20 minutes in the tulip fields at Roozengaarde.
We spent four nights/three days in the area, based outside of Burlington. Our activities outside of the Tulip Festival included taking a class at King Arthur Baking Company, spending a day in La Conner, and day tripping to the San Juan Islands.
Where To Stay
Whether you prefer a B&B, hotel, or vacation rental, Skagit Valley offers many different styles of overnight accommodation. Since the tulip festival does attract a lot of out-of-town visitors, if your visit includes a weekend, book well in advance. We ended up in a vacation rental in the Skagit Golf and Country Club that worked perfectly.
Here are some favorite Skagit Valley lodging options:
Katy’s Inn – A small B&B in one of La Conner’s beautiful Victorian homes.
Whispering Firs B&B Lodge – Another small B&B located a little out of the way on the east outskirts of Mount Vernon.
Candlewood Suites – This apartment style hotel in Burlington offers units with full kitchens.
Burlington offers many chain hotels like a Hampton Inn and Suites, Comfort Suites, and Fairfield Inn and Suites.
Best Tips for Attending the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Track the bloom online before you go
Whether or not you have flexibility with when you visit the tulip farms, the Festival’s bloom status will give you a sense of what to expect in the fields when you visit.
Go early in the day
The festival is notorious for overcrowding. To avoid backups on Interstate 5 and parking headaches, plan to visit as soon as the farms open at 9 a.m.
Weekdays are best
As you might expect, with its proximity to Seattle, the tulip fields get especially busy on Saturdays and Sundays when weekend warriors heading north for their annual tulip photo ops. If you must visit over the weekend, consider getting off Interstate 5 either in Burlington or Conway to avoid backed up traffic in Mount Vernon.
Buy tickets online ahead of time
You’ll get a small discount if you purchase your tickets online before your visit. The tickets aren’t timed, but there are different rates for weekday or weekend tickets.
Wear footwear appropriate for muddy fields
While you’re not allowed to walk among the tulip rows, even the field roadways you do traverse get quite muddy. My Xtratuf ankle boots worked great. Just remember to have more comfortable footwear to change into once you’re done in the fields.
Dress for the weather
I had dreams of flouncing through the tulips is a flowy, floral dress I bought the spring before in Grand Rapids, MI. But temps in the 40s and the threat of rain squashed my influencer dreams. Check the weather before you head to the fields to make sure you’re properly equipped with rain jackets, umbrellas, and enough layers.
Leave your drone and pets at home
Drones can’t be flown in the gardens without advance permission. Additionally, pets are not allowed at any tulip farm except for Garden Rosalyn, which welcomes dogs on leashes.
Don’t stop along the road
If you’re driving along and see a gorgeous scene you must capture, do not pull over. Either take a video from the moving car or take a photo with your mind. Don’t be the guy clogging up the narrow roads or trespassing in the tulip fields!
Conclusion: Why You Should Visit the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Conclusion: Why You Should Visit the Skagit Valley Tulip FestivalSome people find the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival disappointing and/or a bit of a racket. Honestly, in my experience, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I found it magical to wander through acres of bright tulips with a backdrop of misty Washington mountains.
If you’ve long dreamed of seeing the Dutch tulip fields but either the cost or logistics keep you from the Netherlands in the spring, Skagit Valley is an easy, comparable, and accessible domestic alternative.
By following the tips laid out in this post you can avoid crowds, save a little money, and make sure your time in Skagit Valley is filled with perfect itinerary items for your group. Whether that’s going to a parade, attending the Kiwanis salmon barbecue, pick your own tulip bouquet, or supporting local artists, it’s easy to adapt your experience to your liking.
I hope this post gave you a good idea of what to expect at this annual celebration of tulips. If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out! I want to make sure you’re fully prepared for a beautiful, memorable tiptoe through the tulips in Washington State’s Skagit Valley this April.
 |
 |
If you liked this guide to the 2026 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, check out my other Pacific Northwest posts!
