Description
Whether you are simply considering operating a tulip festival or already have some bulbs ready to be planted, join us as we discuss ways to utilize tulips as a value-added revenue source for your operation.
You’ll learn:
• The life cycle of growing tulips
• If tulips will grow on your farm
• How many acres you need to grow tulips
• What Tulip Fire is and why it’s important
• The differences between growing tulips commercially vs for a festival
• Why growing tulips requires so much up-front time and money
• Why you need to START planning NOW for a 2024 festival
Alexis Szarek is the founder and CEO of Bloom Flower Festivals. She is a possibilitarian, a mother of two, a wife, entrepreneur and farmer. Alexis was the winner of the young entrepreneur of the year award in 2016 and in 2022 her company received the Tourism Excellence Award from the local Chamber of Commerce.
Alexis grew up on a commercial cut flower farm near Vancouver, Canada. With this experience, she started the Abbotsford Tulip Festival in 2016; 10-acres of tulips and an expectation of only 30,000 visitors. When over 100,000 visitors showed up in just 4 weeks - she learned to be creative and quickly think on the fly! Since then, she has continued to host flower festivals, with the 6th tulip festival coming in spring 2023.
Her agri-tourism journey has not been without its hiccups. From separating from the family farm, to navigating municipal bureaucracy, to keeping her business afloat during the pandemic, Alexis is determined to share her flowers with as many folks as possible.
To date, Alexis has brought 5 tulip festivals, 2 beer tasting corn mazes and 2 sunflower festivals to over 350,000 visitors, and she's just getting started! She loves bringing people together to enjoy the flowers, the sunshine (occasionally a little rain), and have some fun!
