The Canadian Tulip Festival

Last Sunday we made the 2 hour drive to Ottawa to our nation's capitol to see the Canadian Tulip festival, the world's largest Tulip festival.

Unfortunately the festival which lasts almost 3 weeks was in its waning stages so it was not all that we imagined it would be. However, the day was beautiful and we also took the opportunity to visit the Museum of Civilization, an amazing display I must say.

Although we missed the height of the festival we did some lovely displays of flowers. The story behind the festival is something remarkable too. It commemorates a remarkable act of friendship with the Dutch royal family. During the last years of World War II Canada had given shelter to Princess Julianna and her daughters. The princess pregnant at the time gave birth to her daughter, the princess Margaret during her time in Canada. This presented a dilemma since royal family members must be born in their homeland to preserve their royal status. Canada declared the hospital a temporary part of international territory thus allowing the newborn princess to skirt the rule. In appreciation for this act of generosity the Dutch government sent a gift of 100, 000 tulip bulbs. The Canadian Tulip Festival was born out of that pact, debuting in 1953 and continuing in full strength to this day.