Looking for something to do in spring? Try the Tulip Festival in Portland, Oregon!
Spring is here!
For local Portlanders, it is always a looong wait for spring. Winter weather consists of nothing but gray skies and rain, rain, rain. Come spring, it’s a good time to visit the tulip fields for a splash of color.
Many years ago, when we lived in San Diego, we visited the flower fields in Carlsbad, California where they grow field upon field of gorgeous ranunculus. We had heard about the tulip festival in Portland since we moved here in 2014. At last, we finally made it to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm!
Annual Tulip Festival
The Portland Tulip Festival happens every year in spring and generally goes from mid-March to early May.
We bit the bullet and decided to go in April, which started out as a rather gray and gloomy day. It’d been raining through the week, so we weren’t sure how it would turn out.
We also realized after we’d left that it was Easter! When it dawned on us, we kinda looked at each other like…uh-oh–what did we get ourselves into? It worked out just fine, though.
Be Prepared for Traffic
The tulip fields are actually in Woodburn which is about a 30-minute drive south of downtown Portland. We were a little surprised when we pulled up behind a long line of cars waiting to get in and that there were other long lines of cars coming from other directions. It was kind of like getting into the parking lot of Disneyland.
We had commented that it must be a real pain to live along any of those roads at this time of year. You can’t just come and go as you please, so it must be a bit frustrating for the neighbors.
Anyway, as long as you’re not in a hurry, it’s not too bad. They have a good system for parking with lots of helpers directing the flow of traffic.
Portland Tulip Festival Operating Hours & Admission
During the festival, the farm is normally open seven days a week.
Admission prices vary, and during these COVID times it’s important to check the Wooden Shoe website to see the most up-to-date information and what makes sense for you.
The Flowers
The tulip fields are vast, and you have access to all of them, so allow yourself plenty of time to walk around and enjoy it.
Hot Tip: Wear footwear suitable for trekking around in mud!
Nestled amongst the colorful blossoms is a great place for photos. You want a bright yellow background? They’ve got that. Pink? Check. Salmon? Yup. Pure white? Got that too. It’s an Instagrammer’s paradise.
There were lots of little girls posing in their pretty Easter dresses, families, couples, dogs–all getting their pictures taken.
Activities
There is quite a lot going on at the farm besides a colorful array of tulips.
There are hot air balloons, a tram, cow train, hay wagon, and tractors. They even have a wooden shoe making demonstration on the weekends.
If you get hungry, food vendors are available. You can even taste some of the estate-grown boutique wine from Wooden Shoe Vineyards. We really liked their sparkling blush moscato.
If you’re in the mood to shop, you can buy beautiful bundles of fresh cut tulips to take home for $5 a bunch. Although we didn’t go in, there is a gift shop too, and of course you can order tulip bulbs for your own garden.
Places to Stay Near the Tulip Festival
Need accommodations nearby? I use Booking.com for all my reservations:
A Good Start to Spring
We had a good time at the tulip fields, and it was a great way to welcome spring. We even got some sun!
For a list of other flower festivals in Oregon, here is a nice article from Travel Oregon.
If you love spring blooms, read about my trip to Schreiner’s Iris Gardens.
Want to read about a yoga festival I visited? Click here.
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Until next time…
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I can’t believe I petsit in Seattle for about 6 months every year and have never heard of the Tulip Festival in Portland! Thanks for enlightening me. It’s on my must-do list for 2022 for sure. Beautiful photos!
Thanks so much! I know you will really enjoy it–it’s just beautiful!
Hey Kit,
Just a beautiful blog and your photography is amazing!
Keep up your excellent work!
Anna
Thank you so much, Anna. I really appreciate your encouragement and kind words. 🙂
Oh another beautiful tulip festival to add to the never-ending list of places to go!
I know, right!? So many places, so little time. 🙂
Looks beautiful! I can understand why it’s so busy, but it sounds like they manage it well. I love Oregon, we visit it often, almost every year, but didn’t know about this tulip festival. I guess if we always go in the summer, we miss out on things like this… Maybe one year we’ll go earlier in the season – it looks like it would be worth it.
Yeah, give it a try some time! I think you’d like Portland in the spring. 🙂
Oh wow! My friend was just in Portland recently, and remarked about the flowers. Didn’t realise there are whole tulip fields nearby! Is there a Dutch history to Portland?
I don’t think there is a significant Dutch history here. The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm was started in 1950. I think the key is that it’s just a good place to grow flowers. 🙂 There are some other flower fields here as well, and I’m going to try to get to at least some of them. I’ll try to post about them too.
So pretty! Like others above, I didn’t know there were tulip fields like this in the U.S. Thanks for sharing!
You bet! You’ll definitely have to come out this way!
I had no idea!!! Seeing the tulips in Holland is on my bucket list. Who knew I could see them here in the US? I literally gasped at your first picture of the fields. So beautiful!
The flowers are breathtaking, aren’t they? Tulips in Holland is on my list too…I can only imagine how beautiful it must be there!
How beautiful! I had no idea there were tulip fields near Portland. Another reason I need to visit that city.
Oh, defnitely! Lots to see and do here. You would enjoy! There are dahlia fields nearby too. I still have to find out more about it myself, though. Maybe a future post in the making!
I would love to see the ocean of tulips, didn’t know you had that. Wooden shoe festival and tulips sounds like something with origins in Holland. Is that where it comes from?
It is very, very pretty. Yes, it’s a nod to Holland. 🙂
This looks so lovely! I can’t resist springtime, the flowers just give me so much joy!
Oh, it was so pretty. And after such a loong, gloomy winter those flowers brought a lot of smiles!
Never knew about the Portland tulip festival. Looks lovely even with the traffic.
LOL, yeah, the traffic… It was worth it though!
Great post. Another reason to explore the Pacific Northwest.
Thanks! There is a lot to see and do here. I’m sure you’d love it!
I didn’t realize this event even existed. I’ve been to the one in Washington many times. Will add this to my future trip list. Your photos are really beautiful!
Oh, thank you! Yes, I’m sure you’d enjoy it. 🙂
Having just been to Holland’s famous tulip fields, it’s nice to read about other festivals around the world.
Oh, lucky you! Would love to see the tulips in Holland someday. 🙂
I went on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon and when it started to rain at 5:45 I literally had the place to myself! Glad you had some sun!
Arghh…sorry you had a gray, rainy day. I hope you had a good time nonetheless! We definitely lucked out!