For the thousands that come and visit Tulip Time each year, they can thank Holland High School teacher Lida Rogers for her vision.
Rogers shared her vision in 1927, at a Woman’s Literary Club meeting. Her idea was to celebrate the famous flower of the Netherlands — the tulip — here, in Holland, Michigan. She wanted “to have every yard in Holland planted with tulips and one day every spring set aside as a tulip day.” At that time, 85 percent of Holland residents were of Dutch heritage.
It took a couple of years to come to fruition, but in 1929, the first Tulip Time Festival became a reality.
In a column written in 2017 by Holland historian, author and resident Randy Vande Water, he told how Rogers was finally recognized in 1954, at Tulip Time’s 25th anniversary, riding a float for the first time in her life.
What began as an idea to make Holland a beautiful city, has turned into a nine-day festival that brings in an estimated 500,000 people annually.