adminWhat started in 1936 as a little festival of Orange City’s Dutch heritage has led to decades of what is now known as tulip festival in Orange City Iowa.
Orange city Tulip Festival is globally recognized celebration that features music and dancing by kids and adults in authentic Dutch outfits, night show, daily parades, Dutch treats, a carnival midway, delicious food, in addition to thousands of tulips as well as a dozen replica windmills throughout.
Usually this celebration is held in May in Orange City, the time when weather is perfect. The Orange City bank is situated in the middle of the Tulip Festival, directly on the route of parade. It’s a busy and fun time, particularly for many people that have children who take an interest in Dutch Games, Marching Band, Dutch Dancing, or riding on floats in the parade.
Starting in 1933 to celebrate their pride which is Dutch heritage, Orange City local people started the celebration as a continuous way for sharing history and customs from the Netherlands, including the festival of flower culture within Dutch practice. The tulip normally led the way in this festival and within a couple of years over 50,000 tulip bulbs were imported and perfectly planted. As the celebration grew it transformed into a 2-day festivity and led into a weekend festival generally held on the third weekend in May.
Today there are two day to day parades, a musical night show, Dutch fold dancing and obviously the Tulip Queen and Court. One of the main highlights is the cleanliness during and after parades as sweepers and cleaners walk the parade street to clean the mess left by horses and other different things in the parade – a tradition that still continues today.
One of the notable parts about Orange City is Windmill Park. This popular park is pretty unique in that it houses different pick areas, including a stage, shelter, playground, information booth, floral beds, and some windmills giving this park its name. Just make sure whenever you arrive – take your time to stroll around the display and read about the various windmills and history, as well as crossing over the little walking bridge.
The windmills add a unique flavor to the park and give it the Dutch symbolism that makes Orange City the beautiful and special place that it is. However, one of the most interesting elements in the park is the Oranjestad Pomp or Orange City Pump (which was brought to celebrate 150 years in Orange City). The historical backdrop of the pump (which was designed according to the town siphon in Middleburg, Zeeland) was that it was situated on open grounds and served not just as a source of water (since it was before the hour of running water) but also as a famous meeting place. Today the water siphon is gladly shown in Windmill Park.
A rich history follows the Orange City Tulip Festival and runs deep along Dutch culture, and one of these traditions is the making and wearing of wooden shoes. The story was brought over and apparently began in France as lowlands and wetlands were being taken for cultivating and different means.
The Netherlands reclaiming area from the North Sea took into consideration wet conditions and the accessible lumber allowed for wooden shoes to be promptly made while offering protection against the wet ground and dampness. The viable utilization of wooden shoes gave their benefit to the Dutch working the grounds, but it has a significant influence today with historical roots and portrayal of Dutch work ethic.
Dancers of any age line the roads and perform genuine Dutch dances while wearing traditional wooden shoes. If you’re thinking about how anybody could move in them, a few less experienced dancers or those with sick fitting shoes utilize a versatile tie to secure them better to their feet. While other experienced dancers don’t use anything at all and do the dance with pure talent.
To get the best show, remember to sit close to the royal court on Central Ave between second Street and first Street. If not, you’ll be seeing several children linked hand and hand running down the road. While still amusing to watch, the dance is even better. The Volksparade isn’t your normal parade where candy gets tossed at kids, but you won’t mind since you’ll have a great time.
The parade runs twice daily as it covers five city blocks. People start lining up ahead of schedule along the roads to save a spot. If you have never completely experienced the Tulip Festival in Orange City, it is best decision to put it on your list of thing-to-do in 2022. You will have a fun celebration, with a lot of Dutch heritage to learn about and celebrate.
Be sure to stop at one of the bread shops downtown. If you like almond flavor then make sure to purchase the renowned “Dutch Letter”, however there are a lot of other Dutch treats to go around.
Visit Orange City and see the reason why the Tulip Festival is one of the best celebrations in Iowa, and take a walk around the city and find what makes the city a charming, peaceful, simple, yet extremely beautiful.
Remember to glance around and take in the work of art showed on some of the downtown buildings – even the wall reflects the tulip festival that features much of what makes the Orange City Tulip Festival one of its kind. In simple, the tulip festival in Orange City Iowa is an amazingly memorable tulip wonderland which is full of Dutch culture – a month of May spectacle to behold without a doubt.
