While close to a million tulips are set to bloom this spring as part of the Canadian Tulip Festival, associated festivities will be uprooted from the National Capital Commission’s (NCC) land because of unexpected rising costs, Tulip Festival Chair David Luxton announced March 5.
The NCC says it’s surprised the Canadian Tulip Festival is moving its festival events off NCC land for the first time in six decades due to costs, as fees were agreed upon only last year.
However, in an email, Luxton said “tens of thousands of dollars” were added last minute.
“It is certainly not a $9,000 issue as erroneously reported in some media, that is just silly”, he said.
“We wish that relationship could continue, but the programming decisions of the Canadian Tulip Festival are solely the decisions of Canadian Tulip Festival organizers,” said Jean Wolff, an NCC spokesman. “Over the years the festival has already changed, but the tulips remain in the ground where people can enjoy them.”
Wolff said that since the Tulip festival fills the NCC’s mandate of “building a capital for all Canadians” it has historically been exempt from the “big costs” like regular permit fees.
However, it is responsible for site restoration fees after each festival.
For example, when festival tents are erected and over half a million people use NCC land in the span of two weeks, the grass needs to be replaced, said Wolff.
Luxton says those costs are usually between $4,000 to $8,000 dollars, but last year the festival was back-charged $44,282 in restoration fees.
Wolff said NCC workers have met with the festival organizers before, during set-up and after past events to discuss ways to mitigate these costs.
Luxton says the festival’s budget is approximately $2 million.
In the past the festival has hosted events at Major’s Hill Park and Commissioner’s Park and around Dow’s Lake where the tulips bloom. One million tulips are already in the ground and set to bloom on NCC land this spring.
“This will carry on,” said Wolff. “The tulips are an attraction. The festival was built because of the tulips.”
Representatives of the Canadian Tulip Festival could not be reached for comment.
While business improvement associations around the city have expressed interest in working with the festival, the NCC said this move does not pose a significant revenue loss for them.
“Without the tulips there would be no reason for a festival, and without programming there would be no festival and the City would not see the same economic benefit,” said Luxton.
The festivals final programming lineup will be released around the end of the month.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the tulip festival.
In 1945, the Dutch government sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Canada as appreciation for Canada’s role in liberating Holland and providing refuge for the Dutch royal family during the Second World War.
The festival grew out of that gift and, until now, has been held at the NCC parks.