Yesterday, a friend and I visited the spring tulip festival at Burnside Farms, one of the world's largest pick-you-own flower farms.
There is nothing prettier than fields of flowers as far as you can see!
If you have never been before, it’s well worth it! Besides for the most amazing photo opportunities (bring your family photographer!), you can pick your own tulips and daffodils!
Sadly, they lost half of their 7 acres of picking tulips during this harsh and long winter (you can read more about it HERE), but even with only half of the fields, we still thought it was absolutely gorgeous!
Rows for acres!
Burnside Farms is located in Haymarket, VA. However, due to the increasing popularity of this event, the crowds have grown bigger than their original fields could handle. Therefore, they have had to relocate the tulips fields over the past couple of years to accommodate the larger crowds. This year, the fields can be found in Bristow/Nokesville, VA, about 15 minutes from historic downtown Manassas, off I-66.
They are hosting their annual Festival of Spring right now. The season generally lasts about 21 days. However, Mother Nature won't seem to give this farm a break this year. It was cold last week and this week was 90+ degrees! This week's oppressive heatwave was very hard on their spring flowers. So, the season may be cut short as buds they expected to be in boom next week are already in full bloom today. The cooler temperatures starting this weekend will be very welcomed in the fields, but even so, DON'T WAIT! Between losing half of their tulips and the early blooming, you don't want to miss peak season!
Festival of Spring Admission For 2018:
Admission is $6.00 during off-peak weekday visits and $8.00 on peak weekdays. Kids under the age of 2 are free. Weekend tickets are $8.00 each.
Please note - NO tickets are available at the gate on weekends. You must purchase weekend tickets in advance online. Tickets for this weekend, can be purchased HERE. As I mentioned, this is a popular event and without the ticketing system, you'd be standing amongst acres of visitors and not acres of tulips!
Tickets do not need to be pre-purchased for weekday visits, just purchase at the gate. I highly recommend a weekday visit!
Your ticket allows you to wander through the fields to pick beautiful blooms, enjoy a picnic, and did I mention the amazing photo ops?! OMG!
Also included in your admission is a children's playhouse area that features three bounce houses and cornhole games. The kids also love the more than 100 pairs of authentic dutch wooden clogs. There are a few giant shoes scattered throughout the fields - these are great photo ops, too!
On the weekends, they usually have wagon rides, live music and food trucks. But feel free to bring your own food and have a picnic. The area in the back with the bounce-house is pretty shady and has a few picnic tables...but bring a picnic blanket since this area fills up fast!
Wicker baskets to collect your stems are available as you enter. However, I recommend that you first walk through the fields, take your pictures and then return for a basket to pick your blooms right before you leave.
Flower Prices:
Daffodils - 2 for $1
Tulips - $1 per stem.
Some flowers will come up with a bulb when picking. If you'd like to keep the bulb, the bulb is $1 extra.
After you have picked your flowers, head to the tent to check out. Here, they will wrap up your tulips in brown paper or your can purchase one of their vintage glass mason jars/vases for your bouquet.
Aren't they pretty?!
Burnside Farms t-shirts, tulip hats, and miniature Dutch shoes are also available for purchase. How cute are these little clog key-chains?
The 2018 flower fields are located at 11008 Kettle Run Road. Nokesville, VA 20181. Do NOT put "Burnside Farms" in your GPS - you will end up at the wrong field!
At the end of the season, the farm usually offers "dog days" where you can bring your pup. What a colorful backdrop all of the tulips would be for my black lab!
It was a HOT day when we visited! It looked like we might get some rain, but no such luck to cool off. Thankfully, though, they also sell cold drinks in the tent!
Have you been to the Festival of Spring at Burnside Farms? What is your favorite spring bloom?
xo,
Meredith
