April 20, 2011

Wednesday Wanderings -- Pella Tulip Time

With summer approaching, I am going to start covering some of the best places to go in and around Central Iowa.  If you want more information about a particular place, you can contact me through the comments here and place a request.  If you have more information to share about a particular place, let me know and I will get it added.  Look for a new post every Wednesday, unless I get too busy or forget. 


It's coming up fast, my favorite time of the year!  Our family loves to go to all the small town festivals throughout the summer, and I think Tulip Time in Pella is one of the earliest.  It's early so you can see all the gorgeous tulips, but sometimes the weather fails to cooperate.  If you attend, take a coat, an umbrella, and your camera.

Small town festivals can be done very cheaply with very little advance planning.  You can pack your lunch, and almost all the entertainment is free.  In Pella, you can:

Watch a cheese race

Go to an antique car show

Watch the parade (a few times a day)


Buy some wooden shoes

Watch them wash the streets

Watch the Klokkenspel

Watch an antique tractor rodeo

Get some good photo ops


Enjoy a trip back in time down beautiful old streets

You should also have a look at some tulips



So, there you have it!  Cheapout in Pella.  There is a lot of free entertainment, but you'll definitely want to take along some money to try the bologna, Dutch letters, and any number of other yummy Dutch treats.  There are shows in the Grandstand area that also cost money to attend, and they have a children's area where the little ones can jump in a bounce house and do crafts.

The Tulip Festival is May 5-7 (note, no Sunday) this year.  For the full schedule of events and any other information you may need, check out the Tulip Time webpage.

I'm also tagging my Wednesday Wanderings with SSSS, which regular readers of my blog may recognize as "Summer Sanity Savers Series."  If you click that link in the tag cloud on the right, you'll get a good look at a lot of other great ideas to keep you family busy over the summer.

2 comments:

JennT said...

That looks like fun! Think we may have to check that out! Thanks for posting about local events....its a great help for those new to central Iowa!

Amy said...

Glad my post was useful! It definitely encourages me to post others.