HOLLAND, Mich. — While hundreds of thousands of people flock to Holland for Tulip Time 2023, some people already have their minds set on planning for next year.
That would include the festival's Executive Director since 2011, Gwen Auwerda.
"We started about a year-and-a-half in advance," she said.
There's a lot to consider — from the ordering and planting of the tulips themselves, to the logistics of traffic and parking, and even a theme.
"Next year is our 95th (festival), so it's gonna be pretty special," Auwerda said. "We're the longest Tulip Festival in the world!"
The theme for that major milestone will likely be announced sometime in November.
The tulip bulbs will be ordered well before then.
"The city of Holland purchases and plants all the tulips," she said. "There are 560,000 planted here at Windmill Island Gardens, and in the city parks, every year. All brand new tulips."
She continued, "they actually put the order into the Netherlands usually by the first of June."
Then, the bulbs are shipped in September and planted in October. Auwerda said more than 200 volunteers help plant tulips at the famous Window on the Waterfront garden.
90,000 bulbs. Hand-dug and planted. In just two days.
"The community loves it," Auwerda said with a smile. "You can come back with your family and say, 'Look, I planted (these) tulips! Don't they look awesome?!'"
Auwerda said the biggest stressor during the planning process might be making sure the small city can handle the influx of visitors.
"The city of Holland has 35,000 residents, and we see 500,000 people over nine days," she said. "So, the biggest thing that we've tried to work on is traffic flow, where the events are, what time of day they are, how to help people navigate the community. We think about that constantly, all the time, as we're planning.”
Even though there's a lot of work that happens behind the scenes to make this festival happen year after year, Auwerda said she is stress-free during Tulip Time.
"People say, 'Are you stressed?' I'm like, 'Not at all.' I'm enjoying this year because it's just gone so well because of the planning we've done in the last 12 months."