Many people ask me why I work so very hard to keep the Canadian Tulip Festival Free. As our esteemed founder Malak Karsh noted, the gift of tulips was given to ALL Canadians, as a sign of gratitude for our service members’ sacrifice in the Liberation of the Netherlands, and the role Ottawa played providing refuge for the Dutch Royal Family.
This royal, romantic, and military story is part of our shared national history, and the lessons learned through this conflict are more important than EVER in our current global political climate.
This Festival is about Commemoration and Celebration and brings over 200,000 tourists, 450,000+ total visitors, providing approximately 58 million in tourism revenue to the City of Ottawa.
In order to host this many people in a safe, clean, barrier-free environment, our Nationally Registered Charity relies on the generous support of our Corporate Sponsors, our Government Partners, our Community Partners, and the Public.
The tulips are personal for so many, from the Dutch survivors of the Hunger Winter I’ve met right here at the Festival, to the over a million Dutch-Canadian families across our nation, that owe their lives to the power of love, and the strength of their war-bride matriarchs.
It seems almost everyone in Canada has a special story to tell about Ottawa’s tulips, whether it’s about the second world war, their Dutch ancestry or their own family history across seven decades at these beautiful and historic
National Capital Commission gardens.
My story? Well, this is a picture of my own son Johnny, visiting the Leopold Canal, on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands. This is where G’Pa George Riding fought for the Liberation of the Netherlands, 80 years ago while serving in The Royal Montreal Regiment as a part of the First Canadian Army Division. He was one of a very few of his Regiment to make it out alive.
The Canadian Tulip Festival will continue to educate and entertain the world. We won’t give up on our mission of remaining free, for everyone, forever.
Most importantly, we will never forget.
Ms. Jo Riding,
Executive Director,
