Tulip Fest Opening Day Set For This Week

SPRING GROVE, IL — The popular tulip festival at Richardson Adventure Farm will open this week.

Officials with the local farm confirmed the fest is set to open at 11 a.m. Thursday. There will be more than 60 varieties of tulips spread over 12 acres at the farm for visitors to admire.

"We’re especially excited because we’re predicting we’ll have a million flowers in bloom this year,"said George Richardson, who operates the farm along with his wife, Wendy, and other members of the Richardson family. "We’ve planted 300,000 tulip bulbs each year for three years. The bulbs that were among the first to be planted are having babies. So, this year should really be something to see."

The tulip festival has been a popular draw at the Spring Grove farm — located at 909 English Prairie Road — since its spring 2021 debut. Twelve football fields worth of tulips are now planted in a northwesterly segment of the 500-acre farm, adjacent to a picnic area around Richardson Lake.

The festival will feature live music on weekends, plus food trucks serving up everything from poutine to quality Mexican fare, wood-fired pizza, burgers, sandwiches, pulled pork and ice cream. Beer, wine, soft drinks, hot drinks and smoothies also will be available.

Festival hours will be 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with the gift shop closing a half hour later, at 7 p.m. The fest is closed Mondays. Children 3 and younger are admitted to the fest for free. Cost for those 4 years old and older is $16.

On Saturdays and Sundays, the cost for admission is $16 for ages 4 to 12 years old and $19 for ages 13 years old and older.

Everyone who pays for admission gets one free tulip.

Thousands of visitors are expected to stop out to this year's tulip fest.

"What's better than spring, and what's better than tulips in the spring?" said Robert Richardson, who first explored the idea of having a tulip fest at the farm back in 2019. "They’re just a riot of colors. We’ve had folks come out to make marriage proposals, folks come out to take high school graduate photos ... it's been a great addition to the offerings here at the farm."