A Visit to the Morges Tulip Festival by Casper Ko

Found in the Park of Independence, Morges Tulip Festival is an event spanning 6 weeks, something that all can enjoy for it is free and easily accessible. Every Spring the festival can be found on the edge of Lake Geneva. It is a vibrant display of 120,000 tulips from 300 species of the beautiful flower.

We arrived in a parking lot to the West of the Park. From there we passed through a playground and a wide, shallow river with mallards and other waterfowl. Upon crossing the bridge we were granted our first sight of the Tulip Festival. Before us lay a vista of colors and scents that assails one’s nose. From the soaring evergreens to the main attraction;  the tulips of course! Its quite intriguing how diverse a genus of a plant, it can be. I came here with the conception of your typical red tulip, an iconic image that I got from the Dutch tourism industry. Instead I saw flowers of all colors and shapes. From complex arrays of pink, red and yellow to flowers of burgundy it is near impossible to captivate the medley of flora present. The Park’s location also adds to the atmosphere of the festival. When we look across the lake we are greeted with a view of the Swiss Alps. At this time of year the tallest peaks are still powdered with snow but not for much longer.

Something that wasn’t expected though. There was some sort of Turkish event. I failed to learn much more but it consisted of a choir of people singing in what I’ll assume is Turkish due to the strings of Turkish flags that were tied here and there across the area. There were many a food stands that sold things from brooches and jewelry to churros and kebabs.

I think that events like these really do bring communities together. The Tulip Festival resembles much of the Christmas Market In Montreal that I had the pleasure of visiting last year.

By Casper Ko