Yes, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is a year-round operation — once we’ve wrapped up the festival for the year, we get busy — securing sponsorships, planning for our Key Bank ambassador event, working on parade ideas, arranging for and accepting the artwork for the next year, running our small business, selling souvenirs, planning and executing volunteer thank yous, and setting the date for and planning the annual poster unveiling. The work we do each fall and winter is all designed to bring visitors back to the Skagit Valley in the spring.

And, of course, there are the tulips! The growers (RoozenGaarde, Tulip Town and Garden Rosalyn) all dig and process their tulip bulbs so they are ready to plant in the fall, again so there will be beautiful tulips to see during the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in the spring.

Our events and activities of the festival are also busy — concerts are being planned, the Kiwanis groups are recruiting for next year’s barbecue, the artists are busy planning for the art shows, and the downtown association in Mount Vernon is already working on the 2023 street fair.

We hope you enjoy the snapshot — Schuh Farms got creative in 2021 for a drive-by tulip parade!