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VIDEO: North Okanagan's first-ever tulip festival in bloom

It could be considered the Okanagan Valley's newest hidden gem.

The Bloom Flower Festivals is sure to become a regional staple as the grand opening of the Armstrong Tulip Fest has kicked off without a hitch.

Although that comes as no surprise, as owner, Alexis Szarek, is a third-generation flower grower who’s moved her wildly popular Abbotsford Tulip Fest into the North Okanagan.

“I grew up on a cut flower farm, so I’ve kinda been in it my whole life,” explains Szarek.

“I started the Abbotsford Tulip Festival in 2016 and we moved up to Armstrong in November of 2020, and we’ve relocated our business and just got going up here.”

Of course, moving during a pandemic had its challenges, the family of four worked quickly to establish their roots in Armstrong and plant 10 acres of tulips before spring had sprung in 2020.

Just a few weeks before their opening day, their dreams of the first annual tulip festival in Armstrong were dashed due to COVID-19.

Since then, Szarek held off on events until she was absolutely sure they could host their colourful celebration safely; and this year a cold spring wasn’t going to be the thing that held her back from sharing her love of flowers.

</who>Photo credit: NowMedia | Bloom Flower Festivals

“People keep telling me this isn’t a regular Okanagan spring, and I sure hope not because it’s really cold,” she laughed.

“The tulips are growing slowly and they’re taking their time to bloom, so if you come out to visit you’ll see that there's still quite a bit that has yet to bloom. So yeah, it’s been a cold spring, but it teaches us patience.”

This past Friday, community members were finally able to explore the farm and take part in the tulip festival for the first time since 2019 and Szarek explained she’s ecstatic to finally see people out there.

“You know after two and a half years of being pent up inside not really being able to visit or see people, this is kind of the first opportunity for folks to get out to see family, see friends and enjoy the sunshine when it does decide to pop out.”

Patrons can explore over 22 varieties scattered through 350,000 tulips spanning nearly 2.5 acres of stunning flowers from now until May 22.

Tickets can be found online here, and on top of checking out the beautiful flowers this spring; families heading out on the weekend will also be treated to horse-drawn carriages, food trucks, photo ops and the opportunity to take home a bundle of freshly picked flowers.

Learn more about the Bloom Flower Festivals here, as well as their Sunflower Festival which is set to return in August.



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