Abbotsford's Tulip Festival is moving to the North Okanagan.
After four years in the Fraser Valley, organizers of the event plan to "rebloom" in Armstrong.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling to say goodbye to the incredible community that supported our vision for the last few years, but we’re hopeful for the future of the event in our new community in the Northern Okanagan,” founder Alexis Szarek said in a press release Monday.
Several factors impacted the decision to permanently shut down the Abbotsford event, including cancellation of the 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the uncertainty of the 2021 season. In addition, the land where the festival had been held has been sold to new owners.
Szarek and her family have relocated to Armstrong, where she and husband Marc hope to reimagine the festival for the Northern Okanagan.
Known as Bloom, the festival opened in 2016 and attracted as many as 100,000 visitors over six weeks in April and May, who gathered to marvel at the 2.5 million rainbow coloured tulips.
The festival was featured in dozens of international publications and programs and contributed over $120,000 to local causes.
Szarek is a third-generation tulip farmer.
She was named 2016 Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, and is a former chair of the BC Young Farmers Committee and board member of the Canadian Young Farmers Forum.
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