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Détail

  • Nom
    Tulip Festival
  • Lieu
    OTTAWA
  • Contribution
    Erwan LR
  • ID
    2590.2704

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Tulip Festival
Tulip Festival

Ottawa is second only to Amsterdam in the number of tulips it grows, and the two cities are closely linked.

The tulip first appeared in the Netherlands when the Ottoman Empire brought the plant with them when it conquered Holland. However, it was an entirely different story that brought tulips to Ottawa. A

return during the Second World War, faced with Germany's invasion of the Netherlands; the Dutch royal family is forced to flee their country. Princess Juliana therefore headed to Ottawa, Canada for safety in June 1940.

This royal family would remain there throughout the war, and it was in fact in Ottawa that Princess Margriet (Dutch Princess) was born, so that she would have Dutch nationality on Canadian territory, her hotel room would be declared extraterritorial, and following this birth the Dutch flag would fly over the Canadian Parliament tower, a great first for a foreign flag to fly there.

In recognition of Canada's services to the Dutch royal family, at the end of the war, Ottawa will have a gift of 100,000 tulip bulbs. From this was born Ottawa's tulip tradition, and in 1953 the first Canadian Tulip Festival was held.

This flower, a symbol of country and friendship, attests to the strong ties between these two countries.

Photo credit: Franz ZIEGLER

 
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