quinta-feira, março 30, 2006

Tulip Festival

Recebi uma mensagem da Maria Luiza perguntado qdo seria o Festival da tulipa este ano, e resolvi fazer um post falando um pouco da historia do festival e das tulipas... Soh nao sei se as datas serao mantidas, pois a temperatura resolveu cair e depois de umas 3 semanas a neve resolveu voltar...


Se quiserem saber mais sobre o festival, assim como as datas dos eventos basta ir no site http://www.tulipfestival.ca/en/index.php. Todas as informacaoes desse post foram retiradas desse site....


The History Of The Canadian Tulip Festival

Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
1909 - 2004

The Canadian Tulip Festival pays tribute to Queen Juliana who will always be remembered in a special way for her Gift of Tulips to the Canadian people. Thanks to her, the Tulip Legacy holds a very important place in Canadian history and is particularly celebrated by Ottawa and Gatineau residents. She is, in many ways, responsible for the creation of the Canadian Tulip Festival.

The 2004 Festival featured a Tribute to Queen Juliana Tulip Bed in Commissioners Park, at the corner of Queen Elizabeth Driveway and Preston Street.

A celebration founded on friendship

The 2003 edition of the Canadian Tulip Festival celebrated Australia's tulips and its tulip festival - Canberra's Floriade with the theme: "Tulips Down Under - G'day Australia." The Australian High Commissioner, His Excellency Tony Hely, served as the Tulip Festival's honorary president.

The Canadian Tulip Festival has grown into the largest tulip festival in the world from a gift of thanks given five decades ago. In the fall of 1945, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands presented Ottawa with 100,000 tulip bulbs. The gift was given in appreciation of the safe haven which Holland's exiled royal family received during the Second World War and in recognition of the role which Canadian troops played in liberating the Netherlands.

The tulips have become an important symbol of international friendship and the beauty of spring. They also have special meaning to the people of Canada's Capital Region. During the war, the Dutch royal family was hosted at Government House in Ottawa. Princess Margriet was born at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The floral gift that began in 1945 has established this region as "The Tulip Capital of North America".

A few years after the Dutch tulips arrived in 1945, they became a strong attraction. Stunning pictures were appearing in newspapers nationwide. More and more events began to centre around the annual bloom of tulips.

The first Canadian Tulip Festival was held in 1953. The Ottawa Board of Trade, at the suggestion of world renowned photographer Malak Karsh whose photographs have immortalized the tulip, formalized the Canadian Tulip Festival to coincide with the tulip's annual bloom. In the next 10 years the Festival grew in size, with a staggering display of over two million flowers.

Each spring, the National Capital Commission (NCC) is the official 'guardian' and designer of the national capital's gardens by managing the colourful splendour and stunning display of millions of tulips, creating a magnificent backdrop for the Canadian Tulip Festival. The NCC is responsible for many of the impressive flower beds and green spaces found throughout the region located on Parliament Hill, along Confederation Boulevard and the Capital's scenic parkways and recreational pathways, in front of national museums and institutions and along the historic Rideau Canal.

The most spectacular display of tulips is found in Commissioners Park, the official site of the Canadian Tulip Festival located at Dows Lake and near the Rideau Canal, where the NCC plants more than 300,000 tulips each year. Commissioners Park is also home of the Tulip Legacy Exhibit, an exhibit implemented by the NCC explaining the history of the Dutch Royal Family's refuge during the World War II and the contribution of Canadian troops in the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944-45.

Here are some highlights from the Festival's proud history:

Prime Minister John Diefenbaker presides over the Opening Ceremonies (1958).

Prime Minister Diefenbaker, Governor General Vanier and U.S. President John F. Kennedy meet for talks during Tulip Month (1961).

Queen Juliana of the Netherlands makes a royal visit to the Festival (1967).

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau cuts the Opening Tulip Ribbon while chewing on the stem of a golden melody tulip (1968).

Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the liberation of Holland, Dutch Canadians give Canada a 1500-pipe concert organ (1970).

Liberace opens the Festival with a piano concert (1972).

Tiny Tim tip toes through the tulips (1984).

Twelve-year-old Alanis Morissette debuts at the Canadian Tulip Festival (1987).

Governor General Ramon Hnatyshyn opens the Festival (1992).

A Tournament of Roses float from Pasadena, California featuring the Rose Queen joins the Rideau Canal Flotilla (1993).

"A Tribute to the Origin Country of the Tulip - Turkey" (1994).

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands returns to Ottawa to officially open the Festival which celebrates the good relations between her country and Canada through the twin themes of "The Friendship That Flowered" and the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of Holland (1995).

The Canadian Tulip Festival's Floral Tribute to Nice and its Bataille de fleurs, the grandaddy of all floral celebrations (1996).

Canadian Tulip Festival celebrated the Floral Artistry of Japan with a spotlight on the Festival's friendship partner, the Tonami Tulip Fair (1997).

A Celebration of Canada's Provinces & Territories shared the gifts of the tulip and friendship with all of Canada. Entertainment from 27 festivals across Canada was featured at the Canadian Tulip Festival (1998).

"Between Friends", a celebration of the unique friendship between the United States and Canada, twinning with the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, was one of the most successful festivals ever (1999).

Tulips 2000 - A Capital Celebration! was a special millennium floral showcase for floral designers from 20 capital cities around the world and featured the blooming of over two million additional tulips planted as part of the Millennium Tulip Challenge.

Tulips Forever! A salute to Britain, was a celebration of Britain's tulip history and world-renowned gardens. It featured a Tulip Twinning Ceremony between the Canadian Tulip Festival and the Spalding Flower Parade, Britain's largest tulip festival (2001).

Tulipmania! Tulips like you've never seen them before. The Canadian Tulip Festival celebrated its 50th Anniversary with the creation of Tulipmania throughout the new Cities of Ottawa and Gatineau (2002).

The Canadian Tulip Festival is a 50 year tradition attended by people from throughout North America, Europe and Asia. The event, which grew from a Dutch gift of friendship, has become the world's largest Tulip Festival and Canada's most colourful event.


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