VANCOUVER -- A well-known tulip festival that typically displays millions of flowers each year is moving from the Lower Mainland to the Okanagan.
Bloom, the Abbotsford Tulip Festival, is moving from the location it's been in since launching in 2016.
"It's a bittersweet feeling to say goodbye to the incredible community that supported our vision for the last few years but we're hopeful for the future of the event in our new community in Northern Okanagan," said the festival's founder, Alexis Szarek, in a news release.
"We want to thank all of our dedicated staff and volunteers who greatly contributed to our success in Abbotsford, as well as the many community stakeholders who helped us along the way."
Szarek said the festival is moving in part because the event was cancelled in 2020 over the COVID-19 pandemic and its 2021 season is uncertain. But the land used for the festival was also recently sold and Szarek's family has since relocated to Armstrong, where she hopes to host a festival in the future.
The outdoor event attracted 100,000 visitors each year and had 2.5 million tulips in full bloom.
Last year's annual Chilliwack Tulip Festival was also cancelled due to the pandemic. So far, organizers of that event haven't revealed plans for this year.
In a post from last October, facilitators of the Chilliwack event said bulbs had been planted for the 2021 season. The festival usually runs in April or May.
