Photo:
Don't miss the fields of gorgeous tulips blooming during the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Photo: Meredith Charaba
It’s tulip time! Washington’s beloved annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is back again for 2025. This gorgeous burst of colorful blooms is a spring rite of passage for many Pacific Northwest families.
The daffodils bloom the second half of March in Skagit Valley, and that means the tulips are on their way. Mid-April is typically a good time to plan a trip, though the exact timing of the bloom depends entirely on Mother Nature.
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival runs seven days a week, April 1–30, and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
First, pick a tulip farm
This year, there are five venues welcoming tulip-seekers: Skagit Acres, RoozenGaarde, Tulip Town, Garden Rosalyn and Tulip Valley Farms. All five are offering advance online ticket sales now, and most will also have tickets at the gate.
Note: You have to buy a ticket for each individual venue; there isn’t a single ticket that gets you admission to all of them.
Skagit Acres
New this year to the tulip festival, Skagit Acres is a 25-acre farm with stunning views of Mount Baker. The farm’s 3-acre tulip field will be filled with thousands of blooms.
Inside the garden center, you’ll find a variety of gardening essentials, including plants, flowers and pots. There’s also a gift shop complete with handcrafted home goods and other must-have items for tulip enthusiasts. The café invites visitors in for local bites and espresso (plus beer and wine for the grown-ups). Or you can grab lunch from one of the food trucks outside.
This is a dog-friendly field, so you can bring your leashed pups along.
Tickets: Tickets are available in-person and online, and cost $18 for adults; $15 for military and seniors (age 65 and older); and $10 for children ages 6–11. Kids ages 5 and younger are free. Special events and double-bloom admission tickets for Skagit Acres and Tulip Town are also available. No drones allowed.
Hours: The tulip field is open Monday–Thursday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., and Friday–Sunday, 9 a.m.–7 p.m, April 1–30. The garden center, gift shop and café are open year-round.
Location: 18923 Peter Johnson Rd., Mount Vernon
RoozenGaarde
If you are looking for endless rows of flowering color, RoozenGaarde is the place for you. It is breathtaking. You want tulips? They’ve got tulips. Tens of millions of them. Magnificent photos here, guaranteed. RoozenGaarde has more than 50 acres of tulips and daffodils. The 7-acre display garden is redesigned and hand-planted every year with more than 200 varieties of flowers.
Tulip grower Brent Roozen is the third generation to run this family farm. His grandfather, William Roozen, emigrated from Holland in 1947 and started RoozenGaarde.
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased online and cost $16 per person for a weekday, $20 on weekends. Kids ages 2 and younger are free. Admission includes free parking. No pets or drones are allowed.
Hours: Open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–7 p.m., and Saturday–Sunday, 8 a.m.–7 p.m.
Location: 15867 Beaver Marsh Rd., Mount Vernon
Tulip Town
Tulip Town was founded by Tom and Jeannette DeGoede, who helped start the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival back in 1984. A group of Skagit Valley locals bought the farm when the DeGoedes retired in 2019.
The farm offers 6 acres of tulip fields with more than 55 varieties. You can expect stunning colors and a charming windmill. The trolley ride takes you around the farm for unique views of the tulip fields. It’s a huge hit with kids and included with your ticket price.
This year there is a special Easter egg hunt (for kids age 10 and younger) on April 19 and 20. The kids egg hunt is free with admission at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon.
Tulip Town allows leashed dogs. Pet dogs enter free and are allowed on any ticket level except the experience pass.
Tickets: General admission tickets can be purchased online and cost $18 for ages 12 and older; $15 for seniors and military; and $10 for ages 6–11. Ticket prices are higher when purchased on-site. Kids ages 5 and younger are free. Special events and double-bloom admission tickets for Skagit Acres and Tulip Town are also available. No drones are allowed.
Hours: Open Monday–Thursday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., and Friday–Sunday, 9 a.m.–7 p.m.
Location: 15002 Bradshaw Rd., Mount Vernon
Tulip Valley Farms
This 30-acre farm in west Mount Vernon offers views of Mount Baker and beautiful surrounding farmland. 10 acres of bulbs are planted among hazelnut trees and between grass rows. The goal is to minimize muddiness and allow visitors to walk between the tulip rows.
Tulip Valley Farms is the only farm that offers U-pick fields during the festival, plus a special Night Bloom on Fridays and Saturdays (a chance to experience the fields at night, complete with lights and lasers!).
Tickets: General admission to Tulip Valley Farms is $14 online for ages 16 and older; $13 for military and seniors (age 65 and older); $8 for children ages 3–15; free for ages 2 and younger. Tickets include the opportunity to join Farmer Andrew for a tulip talk. Drones are only permitted under special circumstances with prior approval from the farm. Dogs are welcome for an additional fee. Parking is free.
Hours: Open daily, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Night Bloom tickets include evening access on Fridays and Saturdays from 8–10 p.m.).
Location: 15245 Bradshaw Rd., Mount Vernon
Garden Rosalyn
Garden Rosalyn is in its fourth year as part of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. This venue showcases its several varieties of tulips on 7 acres. The garden also features hand-planted designs with lots of charming details.
Kids will love the pond with its resident family of geese and ducks. Don't miss the charming windmill and gift shop.
Tickets: Tickets cost $17 per person and can be purchased online. Admission is free for kids younger than 2 years old. Dogs are welcome on a leash. Parking is free.
Hours: The garden is open daily, 8 a.m.–7 p.m.
Location: 16648 Jungquist Rd., Mount Vernon
Tips for parents
1. Pick the best time to go.
Before the tulips, the fields are bright yellow with daffodils. Tulips typically begin their bloom right around the start of April, and peak blooming happens in mid-April. Check the festival’s bloom status info and the farms’ Facebook and Instagram pages for updates.
If you visit any sunny weekend at the peak of the bloom, you can expect heavy traffic. The earlier in the day you go, the better. Those two-lane rural roads get way backed up, and it only gets worse as the day goes on.
If you prefer less busy times, plan to arrive midweek before noon. The least busy days are the days when the weather isn’t great.
2. Dress for the weather.
Rain or shine, the tulips are always beautiful. But keep in mind that these are working farms, and this festival is an outdoor event. Be prepared for wet and muddy field conditions that may not be accessible to strollers and wheelchairs.
You’ll want to wear rain boots and something you don’t mind getting dirty. It’s not a bad idea to pack a change of clothes for the car ride home.
Also important to note, facilities at the farms are typically port-a-potties.
3. Know where to go when the troops get hungry.
When the troops get hungry, the farms have concession stands and food trucks. In town, we like the Skagit Valley Food Co-op for grab-and-go deli items. The Chuckwagon Drive-In is a good spot for really cheap burgers and watching a model train chug through the dining room.
On the west side of the Skagit River, try The Net Drive-In for old-school burgers and shakes, or find family-style Mexican cuisine at Mexico Café.
And no visit to the Skagit Valley is complete without a stop at Snow Goose Produce. This family-run farm stand is famous for its super-sized ice cream cones. Bring cash and an appetite!
4. Remember, you won’t see this anywhere else in the country!
Three-quarters of the nation’s commercial tulips are grown in the Skagit Valley, according to Washington State University’s Skagit County Extension. More than 1,000 acres of tulips and daffodils are grown in this county, more than any other county in the country. That’s a whole lot of flowers!
Numbers aside, the flower fields are gorgeous. You could fly to the Netherlands … or you could drive 60 miles north from the Seattle area to our local flower nirvana, right in Mount Vernon.
If you go to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival ...Location: The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival takes place around Mount Vernon, Washington, about an hour’s drive north of Seattle. Dates: Official festival dates are April 1–30, 2025, but the flowers bloom according to Mother Nature’s schedule, as local farmers will remind you. Typically, the most reliable dates for full tulip bloom are mid-April. Daffodils bloom in late March through early April. Check the bloom status page for updated info. More fun with kids in Skagit County: |
Editor’s note: This article was first published several years ago and was most recently updated in March 2025 by ParentMap’s family fun editor, Meredith Charaba, with information for the 2025 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.
