Courtlin’s First Trip to Pella’s Tulip Time Festival [PHOTOS]

After over a decade of living in Iowa, I finally traveled to Pella this weekend for their annual Tulip Time Festival! The trip was long overdue.

Pella's Tulip Time Festival is held annually on the first Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of May. This year's event took place on the 7th, 8th, & 9th, so my family and I attended on the final day of the 2026 event. We knew it was going to be busy, but I don't think any of us were expecting it to be that busy! Thankfully, we arrived fairly early in the day (around 10 a.m.), so parking wasn't an issue, and we were able to do a few things on our list without waiting in long lines! Here's a rundown of my first Tulip Time experience:

What We Saw (And Didn't See)

I'll start with the bad news.

Unfortunately, we saw very few tulips at the Tulip Festival. We knew going in that the tulips bloomed early this year due to the unpredictable Iowa spring weather, so we were prepared for that going in. But, it was still a bummer! There were apparently a few areas that did have some live tulips left, but we didn't get a chance to check them out (Pella was bigger than we anticipated!). Here's a tiny patch of tulips that I saw near the Vermeer Windmill, just to satisfy your tulip needs!

Speaking of the Vermeer Windmill, that was one of the very first things we spotted walking into the festival. It was HUGE! According to the Pella Historical Museums website, the 1850s-style windmill was shipped from the Netherlands in 2002, and is the tallest working windmill in North America at 124-feet, 6-inches tall. We didn't wait in line to tour the inside of it, but just standing below it was impressive! I'd love to go back when its less busy and get the full windmill experience.

During our time in Pella, we also took a stroll past Central Park to check out the Tulip Tower, aka Tulip Toren. At 65-feet tall, it's hard to miss!

What We Did

We spent a good chunk of our afternoon (and our money!) at West Market Park for the Dutch Craft Market at Tulip Time. There were more than 100 vendors stationed throughout the park selling everything you can imagine. It was definitely one of the biggest vendor markets I've ever been to! We went home with homemade jewelry, soap, sweaters, ceramics, toys, and so much more.

We also made a point to stop at lots of the local shops in Pella, including the The Wijn House, Van Veen Chocolates, Cranberry Stone Bakery, and Vander Ploeg Bakery. We wanted to stop at the iconic Jaarsma Bakery, but the line was just a bit too long for us. Maybe next time!

Last, but not least, we made sure to check out the courtyard behind the Klokkenspel and Pella's Molengracht Plaza. According to Visit Pella, the plaza "was built to replicate an authentic Dutch canal and is over 100,000 square feet." It was beautiful!

What We Ate

There were a couple of foods that I knew I wanted to try at Tulip Time, and I'm happy to report that I was able to check both of them off my list on Saturday!

The first of the two items that I tried were Poffertjes, which are basically tiny, fluffy pancakes. They are typically topped with butter and powdered sugar, but we also order a plate of them with strawberries and cream on top. YUM. They were just as good as I imagined they would be!

The other item I knew I wanted to try was a Dutch Letter. I had initially planned to get one from Jaarsma Bakery, but, as I mentioned earlier, the line was just too long. Luckily, there was another amazing bakery just a couple of doors down! The wait at Vander Ploeg Bakery was much shorter, so that's where we ended up getting our pastries from. If you're wondering what a Dutch Letter is, Google describes it as "a flaky, buttery pastry filled with sweet almond paste," and it's typically shaped like an "S." Delicious!

A bonus food that I had during Tulip Time was a ribeye & gouda sandwich from the stand run by the Central College Men's Basketball Team. The reason we chose it was because the line wasn't nearly as long as the others. But, it should've been, because the sandwich was SO good. Definitely look out for that one next year!

I can't wait to visit Pella again, hopefully when the tulips are in full bloom! You can read more about the annual festival HERE.

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