Coast to coast, spring blooms are getting ready to blossom. Many cities welcome the warmer weather with celebrations dedicated to these fragrant florals, making it the perfect time to plan a getaway that allows you to savor the scenery.
Whether you treasure tulips or are partial to poppies, these seasonal flower festivals are sure to offer an intoxicating incentive to check out a vibrant new vacation destination.
North Carolina Azalea Festival: Wilmington, North Carolina
April 6-10, 2022
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the North Carolina Azalea Festival, an event that celebrates the city of Wilmington’s artwork, gardens, history and culture during five days of pageantry. The event welcomes in spring in southern style with colorful parades, street fairs, home and garden tours, art shows, fireworks, concerts and more. An annual coronation crowns a Festival Queen and Princess, while the Paws on Parade Paw-ty provides an opportunity for your four-legged friends to frolic.
California Poppy Festival: Lancaster, California
April 22-24, 2022
The high desert city of Lancaster may seem like an unlikely home for a flower festival, but early spring in California’s Antelope Valley offers the perfect environment for the state’s signature flower, the poppy. During this time billions of poppies bloom, filling the scenery with vast swaths of technicolor orange. April’s California Poppy Festival, which takes place over three days, honors the beauty of this vibrant flower with live entertainment, amusement park rides, food stalls, live animal exhibits and a wealth of activities for all ages.
Rochester Lilac Festival: Rochester, New York
Select Dates from May 6-22, 2022
The largest free festival of its kind in North America, the Rochester Lilac Festival spans three weekends. Offering a dizzying array of events, including concerts, wine and craft beer tastings, a parade, endurance races, kid-friendly rides and entertainment, food booths and more, this event in Upstate New York has something to offer every type of traveler.
Tulip Time Festival: Holland, Michigan
May 7-15, 2022
Have you dreamt of strolling among colorful tulip blooms set against a European-style windmill-lined backdrop? This spring, rather than taking a long haul to The Netherlands, head for the aptly named Michigan town of Holland, which makes for a convincing substitute. There’s no better time to visit than during the annual Tulip Time Festival, which celebrates the area’s Dutch heritage with a variety of experiences throughout this quaint town. Heralded as the nation’s “Best Flower Festival” and “America’s Best Small Town Festival,” the event offers more than six million blooms to enjoy.
Spring Rose Show: Portland, Oregon
June 9-10, 2022
Portland has been known as the City of Roses or Rose City since the 1800s due, in part, to the region’s climate, which is ideal for growing this thorny flower. Today, the city is home to the International Rose Test Garden, which covers 4.5 acres with more than 550 different species of rose plants, as well as the Portland Rose Festival, the largest and longest-running rose show in the nation. This year the event returns after a two-year hiatus, welcoming back spectacular outdoor events, including parades, concerts, dragon boat and milk carton boat races, fireworks, a carnival and more.
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