Tesselaar Tulip Festival

What is Tesselaar Tulip Festival?

The Tesselaar Tulip Festival is held on a 55-acre flower farm in Silvan, Victoria. During the festival, visitors walk among fields planted with more than 120 varieties of tulips. The farm also grows gladioli and daffodils. Besides the flower displays, the festival offers music performances and food and wine events, creating a lively springtime atmosphere.

The history of Tesselaar Tulip Festival

The festival began with Cees and Johanna Tesselaar, Dutch immigrants who arrived in Melbourne in 1939. They started growing tulips, gladioli, and daffodils, and after moving to Silvan, expanded their tulip fields. As people began stopping to admire the flowers, the Tesselaars opened their farm to the public in 1954, collecting donations for the Australian Red Cross. Over time, the event grew into a major annual festival.

What there is to see

Each year, around 900,000 tulip bulbs are planted for the festival, mostly using modern machinery, but about 80,000 bulbs are still planted by hand. The fields are arranged to showcase a wide range of tulip varieties. The festival also sets up areas for music, food, and wine, making it more than just a flower show.

When to go

The festival is held every spring, usually in September and October, when the tulips are in full bloom. Visitors come to see the flowers, enjoy live music, and sample local food and wine. The event attracts people from across Australia and beyond, and is a highlight of the region’s spring calendar.

Parts and collections

Over 120 different tulip varieties are displayed at the festival, offering a broad range of shapes and colours. The farm also grows other flowers like gladioli and daffodils, which add to the diversity of the displays. Each year, the festival may feature new tulip types and themed events.

Why Tesselaar Tulip Festival matters

The Tesselaar Tulip Festival is a well-known spring event in Victoria, celebrating both the beauty of tulips and the region’s Dutch heritage. It began as a community effort to support charity and has become a symbol of the area’s floral culture. The festival did not run in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The flowers of Tesselaar Tulip Festival

TulipSpring-blooming bulbs with showy, cup-shaped flowers in many coloursNarcissusSpring-flowering bulbs with trumpet-shaped blooms in white, yellow, and orangeGladiolusTall, showy flower spikes grown from corms, known as sword liliesWild daffodilA pale yellow spring flower and the national emblem of WalesGladiolus tristisA tall, fragrant gladiolus with cream flowers from southern AfricaWild tulipA wild yellow tulip with a light scent, found from Portugal to western ChinaGladiolus daleniiA wild gladiolus with tall spikes of yellow to scarlet flowersGladiolus alatusA small South African gladiolus with bright orange, sweet-scented flowers

Questions people ask about Tesselaar Tulip Festival

Good reading and sources

• Tesselaar Tulip Festival on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data