'Traffic' is Tulip Festival's top word, top worry

This year's Tulip Festival is all about traffic – on the road and on social media.

Eighty percent of the traffic to the Tulip Festival website comes from people on mobile devices. On its new mobile-friendly website, people can buy display garden tickets, get bloom updates, even check Skagit County weather right from their phones.

A large paid media campaign sponsored by the Skagit Tourism Bureau and the Festival has enticed many new website visitors. While "tulips are our crown jewel," said Tourism Bureau CEO Kristen Keltz, print and digital ads "encourage people not to just see the tulips and leave, but come for the week and stay a couple days exploring other parts of the county, too."

As for the kind of traffic that drives residents berserk, Tulip Festival Director Nicole Roozen hopes that visitors using their phones can eventually access traffic advisories on Facebook and Instagram. Not this year, though, so two weeks ago she brought the major players together at the Skagit County Board of Commissioners' office. The Festival, the Tourism Bureau, all four display gardens, the Washington State Department of Transportation, the Skagit County Sheriff's Office and Department of Emergency Management reviewed past practices, future goals and concerns.

Assistant County Engineer Given Kutz and his team from public works have added flashing lights to stop signs, "no parking" signs on shoulders and "local traffic only" signs on Calhoun and Jungquist Roads. With Festival director Roozen and Washington Bulb Company President Leo Roozen, Sgt. Craig Caulk of the sheriff's traffic department visited all bulb company fields to identify where bottlenecks might develop.

WSDOT will monitor its cameras along State Routes 536 and 20 for unexpected backups, says Caulk. The traffic unit, including two motorcycle officers, will work weekends from Fire District 2 at McLean and Beaver Marsh Roads, a major point of congestion. Caulk is grateful the Tulip Festival draws on the county's lodging tax to pay for off-duty officers to flag traffic on McLean Road.

The goal is to avoid snags like the two-mile-long line of cars that backed up on Beaver Marsh Road last April. "The nightmare happens when parking lots are full and not emptying fast enough," Caulk said. Volunteers and paid staff who monitor display garden parking play a key role in moving traffic.

A new "pain point" is Bradshaw Road and its two gardens directly across the road from one another. Tulip Town will direct people leaving their lot to turn right and drive south to McLean Road. Tulip Valley Farm will direct people north to Highway 536.

"People remember the first five minutes and last 10 minutes of their time on the farm," said Tulip Valley Farm CEO Andrew Miller. "There are things we can work on to make everyone's experience more pleasant."

To report a traffic jam, Caulk recommends calling the non-emergency dispatch number, 360-428-3211. The traffic team's computers show a running log of traffic complaints that they address as they come in.

Meanwhile, the tulips are just about to break into bloom.

Roozengaarde has been open almost two weeks. "The entire display garden was redesigned and replanted this year," says manager Brent Roozen, "and our fields will be exceptionally colorful and awesome."

Tulip Town opens Friday and "the fields look wonderful," says CEO Rachael Sparwasser. Visitors can play or take photos on the four-person bench swings scattered around the fields. Besides Easter egg hunts for children, an over-21 Easter egg hunt includes a beer or wine of your choice. Also new this year: food trucks on peak weekends to supplement their café and beer and wine garden. Locals Night will be Wednesday, April 10.

"We are now the second largest U-pick in the U.S. and the only one in the valley," said Miller, whose Tulip Valley Farm will be all U-Pick in 2024. Look for beautiful Parrot tulips and peony tulips – notoriously hard to grow in our wet, windy valley – and "baby" tulips, too.

"Come late, watch the sun set, sit around the fire, watch the light show and enjoy a taco in the tulips with friends" during the weekend Night Bloom, said Miller. Neighbors Night, sponsored by Helping Hands Food Bank, takes place April 17. The Bloom Ball fundraiser for United Way is April 18.

The windmill at Garden Rosalyn has a new coat of paint and owner Ernesto Mendoza has planted more tulips than ever. When the garden opens Thursday, March 28, dogs and cats will be welcome on leash, handmade crafts will be on sale and snacks will be available from food trucks in the parking area. The swans swimming in the small lake will not be leashed, he notes.

Mendoza welcomes people to bring their own food to enjoy on his picnic tables. "It restores and relaxes people to be here," he said.