PORTLAND, Ore. — The Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival will be ending a week early due to an early bloom. The last day to see the tulips is April 28.
"One of the things we can’t control is when the tulips bloom," said Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm's website. "We have seen up to three weeks difference from year to year."
Last year was the latest bloom the farm had seen in 50 years, with the peak bloom not arriving until early May. But with some patches of earlier sunnier weather, the tulips have bloomed "very quickly" this year, the farm said.
"We are disappointed to close early but we know our visitors enjoy the beauty of our tulips and we are concerned that by the week of April 29th we will have very few tulips left for you to enjoy." the farm said in a news release. "As always, we are on Mother Natures time and not ours."
This year marked Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm's 40th annual Tulip Festival. Tickets can be found online only, and will not be available to be purchased on site at the farm.
The festival is offering a couple new events and activities this year, including hot air balloon rides with Portland Rose Balloons between Thursday through Sunday, if weather permits.
Between Wednesday and Friday, visitors can join wooden shoe making classes. And on the weekends, guests who are 21-year-old or older can take wine tours.
On the last weekend of the festival, April 27-28, the farm is hosting tastings from multiple wineries for a "Wine Weekend."
“Every year is different, and the last two years have truly showed opposite sides of our tulips blooming," the farm said. "While we will not be open until May, now is the time to come, and our fields are ready.”
