8 Spectacular Spring Flower Festivals

Lilac Festival—Mackinac Island, Michigan

The fragrance of lilacs fills the streets of Mackinac Island for 10 days in June at the Lilac Festival. The festival was originally established as a parade in 1949 to showcase the island’s lilacs. It’s since expanded to a multi-day celebration with a 10K run/walk, horse-drawn carriage tours, a multitude of concerts, culinary events, wine tastings, planting seminars and line dancing.

Zoo Blooms—Cincinnati

In Cincinnati’s Avondale neighborhood, passersby can’t miss the spectacular Zoo Blooms (April) with bulb displays beginning at the entrance of the Cincinnati Botanic Garden & Zoo. Every spring, the zoo transforms its grounds into a magnificent explosion of color with 100,000 tulips. Perhaps, it’s the one time the gardens outshine the zoo’s adored animals. On Thursday nights in April, the zoo hosts Tunes & Blooms with free concerts by local bands.

Related: Top Things to Do in Cincinnati

Tulip Time—Pella, Iowa

This picturesque town settled by Dutch immigrants in 1847 loves its heritage just as much as its multitude of tulips. Pella’s Tulip Time (first weekend of May) features tours of its 12-story windmill, a craft market and twice-daily parades complete with street sweepers and dancers (clad in established Dutch costume and wooden shoes, of course). Don’t miss the Dutch treats like poffertjes (mini pancakes), Pella bologna and puff pastry letters.

Related: Top Things to Do in Pella

Dogwood-Azalea Festival—Charleston, Missouri

A six-mile trail of flowering dogwoods, azaleas and Victorian homes creates a stunning backdrop for the Dogwood-Azalea Festival (April). Walk or cruise the trail. Tour the homes. Grab a seat along the parade route, or sign up for the 5K run. Be sure to linger for the candlelight tour with 2,000 luminaries and spotlighted banks of azaleas. It’s no wonder the town touts itself as the “flower of Missouri’s bootheel.”

Tulip Time—Holland, Michigan

Holland is always abuzz in the first half of May for Tulip Time, its 95-year-old tulip festival. Expect parades, live entertainment, an artisan market, Dutch dancing and tours of the city’s six million tulips. New in 2024, a VIP tour takes guests on a day-long motor coach tour of the area with stops at popular destinations like Windmill Island Gardens, the Tulip Immersion Garden and Holland State Park.

Daffodil Days—Granville, Ohio

This charming historic college town has celebrated daffodils for decades. On one weekend in the second half of April, the Granville Garden Club hosts its annual daffodil show and bulb sale at the idyllic, butter-colored Bryn Du Mansion. Scan dozens of yellow, white and even salmon-colored daffodils displayed on risers, then order your favorites for fall planting.

Orleans Dogwood Festival — Orleans, Indiana

In mid-April, hundreds of pink and white dogwood blooms blanket this southern Indiana city thanks to a 1960s community-wide planting called “Operation Dogwood.” Today, Orleans celebrates its dogwood heritage in a large way with the Orleans Dogwood Festival (behind schedule April). Head to party central at the historic Congress Square where artisans gather and entertainers perform at the restored 1926 bandstand. Food vendors serve up ham and beans, and “Hoosier” pork tenderloin sandwiches. Stay nearby at the French Lick resort.

Related: Ultimate Midwest Resorts

Festival of Spring—Oshkosh, Wisconsin

The 1920s Tudor mansion and gardens at Paine Art Center are the perfect setting for the community’s Festival of Spring (May). The outdoor festival features a huge plant sale, artisan fair, live entertainment and food vendors. One highlight is touring the estate’s three acres of gardens filled with 15,000 bulbs plus flowering perennials, wildflowers, trees and shrubs.