Most Visitors to Michigan’s Tulip Time Festival Don’t Know This Secret Hack

The 96th annual Tulip Time Festival takes place May 2-11, 2025.

Each year visitors from across the globe make the annual trek to the quaint lakeside community to catch nearly 6 million tulips in bloom. However, most of the 500,000+ visitors are totally unaware of the festival's best kept secret.

Get our free mobile app

Heck, I'm a West Michigan local who grew up with near Holland, Michigan and even I didn't know this secret festival hack-- did you?

About Tulip Time

Known as the "Tulip City" each May the small town of about 35,000 residents celebrate their heritage with an week-long festival dedicated to their strong Dutch roots. The original idea was proposed by local biology teacher Lida Rogers in 1927 as a nod to the town's namesake and in 1929 the first tulip bulbs bloomed.

Of course it only seems fitting that every tulip bulb planted in Holland, Michigan comes directly from the Netherlands, per the City of Holland website. It wasn't until the '70s that the annual flower festival blossomed in popularity and became the renowned festival we know and love today.

How to Get Free Tulips

Today I learned each year local non-profit Holland in Bloom hosts an annual Tulip Dig where the public is invited to come dig up tulip bulbs from the festival grounds in downtown Holland for only $10!

Dig tulip bulbs to replant in your garden! Bring your own bucket, digging tool, and gloves. Buckets must be tagged before digging. No pre-registration required. Don’t wait—when the tulips are gone, they’re gone! -Tulip Time Festival via Facebook

But don't just start digging up tulip bulbs anytime soon! The annual Tulip Dig will take place well after the festival's end. Save the date for May 31, 2025. More details available here.