The 66th Annual Albany Tulip Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday in Washington Park.
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Organizers say they're expecting thousands to turn out for the annual tribute to Albany's Dutch Heritage. The Tulip Festival features live music, activities for kids, all kinds of food, a nationally renowned craft show and over 100,000 tulip bulbs blossoming into a sea of colors just in time for Mother's Day.
Jessica Morgan is the city gardener for Albany - she oversees the tulip patches. "85 per cent bloom at the same time. Or roughly in waves of bloom, because we do have early blooming tulips, we have mid-season tulips and we also have late tulips. So we encompass the entire blooming time, by making sure we always have something in store."
As we enter festival time, some may wonder what Mother Nature has in store - Meteorologist Garett Argianas : "Temperatures will warm up around here for the weekend, it will be mild both days with highs in the 70s on Saturday and Sunday. Now there is some wet weather in the weekend forecast."
Saturday afternoon features the crowning of the Albany Tulip Queen. Argianas warns showers and thunderstorms are expected from time to time Saturday. "It won't be a washout, however, you will likely need your umbrella at some point during the day. Sunday is the weekend pick, with a good amount of sunshine and high temperatures in the 70s."
Since Sunday is Mother's Day - mom will be certain to love the smell of fresh flowers mingling with the aroma of fried dough - officials suggest you bring your cameras - but leave your pets (with the exception of service animals) at home.
The Albany Tulip Festival is FREE & open to the public : Saturday and Sunday, 11:00am - 6:00pm, in Washington Park.
