Frequently Asked Questions

Before we get started, this is a reminder that the Harrison Tulip Festival is located on a working farm!

This means there are hazards that you wouldn’t expect to see at a garden experience in the city, but you might find them here:
Our fields can get quite muddy with Spring being a wet season, which can lead to slippery pathways during, and shortly after, rainy days. You may also find tractor ruts and other uneven ground. We try our best to maintain clean, dry, and even pathways for our guests; however, we can’t control Mother Nature, and farm equipment, like tractors, are necessary for what we do!

Where are you located?

Easy-peasy. 5039 Lougheed Hwy, Agassiz, BC (parking located off Cameron Rd). Less than 90 minutes from Vancouver via Hwy & or Hwy 1. See our Getting Here page for detailed directions.

Are we allowed to bring dogs/house pets*?

We love dogs and all animals! We’re big pet people. And we always set up a drink station near the bathrooms. We only ask that you keep your furry friends leashed and please pick up after them, as we don’t want to make a mess for others to step in.

*If you are thinking of bringing an unconventional pet (particularly any larger animals), please inquire with us via our Contact page first.

How much does it cost?

Less than a boring movie and dinner, more than a dollar store. No, really. We want to be inclusive of all, so we keep our prices reasonable. We also offer discounts for buying tickets online. Click here for our prices.

What is the cost of parking?

A smile… because parking is free! Whether you’re in a tour bus, truck, car, bike, moped or motorcycle. Whatever you take to come down here, we have plenty of free parking for all, available all week long! Even better, this year our parking is only 50-250 meters from our fields, depending on where you choose to park.

What are your hours of operation?

We’re open 7 days a week during bloom season.

Monday – Friday: Hours 10am-6:30pm*
Saturday & Sunday: Hours 6am-6:30pm**

*Ticket-holders must use their admission ticket by 6:30 and are permitted on fields until 7:30pm. On Weekends please arrive within the hour of your ticket but you may stay as long as you like.  For weekdays, tickets are valid for anytime entry during opening hours.
**Sunrise tickets are the 6am time slot every Saturday and Sunday throughout the festival season. The prices for this time slot differ from the rest of the time slots on weekends. See our Rates, Dates + Hours page for details.

How far are the fields from parking?

You don’t have to be a marathon runner. We try to make it easy on all our guests by providing parking right next to our fields.

Is there accessible parking?

Tulips are treats that everyone should be able to enjoy! So, we provide accessible parking right next to our entrance booth on our grass parking lot. The area is marked with the Accessible Parking Decal. Spaces are limited, so if you require an area to unload wheelchairs and walkers, we urge you to come early, especially on weekends.

What about field accessibility?

The great news is, on a dry day, it should be possible to manage on our paths along the front of our fields; but it will be more difficult to navigate the entire field. It’s best to keep your visit to non-rainy days (yes, we have them) if using a wheelchair, or walker, or if you have difficulty walking. Umbrella strollers and other strollers with smaller wheels are not recommended in the field.

Can I walk over the entire field?

Because we value the delicate tulip, and because this is a working farm, we limit where our guests can walk. You can” tiptoe” around the perimeter of our fields and along our “tulip paths” through the middle of our tulip fields. There is no walking allowed along narrow tractor tracks in between the rows of tulips, to prevent damage to the plants.

We won’t keep you confined to one path, though. We now have several! We have new paths between our daffodils and hyacinths. The hyacinths are particularly delicate – they bruise easily – so we keep a small fence around that part of our fields. But, feel free to walk along the paths and take in their sensational scent!

Can we purchase bulbs at your fields?

Yes, we’re big into bulbs! Though as the bulbs are still in the ground during the tulip season, you will have to visit the Harrison Sunflower Festival from August through September to pick up your Canadian-grown tulip and daffodil bulbs.

What type of flowers can you see in the fields?

We feature ten million tulips, with over 30 different varieties. That’s a lot of colour! We also have three acres of specialty double daffodils, in 16 varieties, and three acres of hyacinths, in five varieties. It’s Spring come to life, in an explosion of eye-catching shades! New for 2024 is the addition of our 2 acre show garden and display areas with over 50 varieties of tulips, over 10 varieties of hyacinths, muscari (grape hyacinths) and Fritallaria set amongst mature fruit, nut and flowering shrubs with meandering grass walkways throughout.

How long has the Harrison Tulip Festival/Tulips of the Valley been in operation?

Hmmm, you’re asking our age. A lady never tells – except us- we love to highlight how long we’ve been doing this. We are the original and largest tulip field in Western Canada and 2024 will be our 18th year! We started our tulip experience back in 2006, in Agassiz, BC, and held it there for 10 years, we then moved to Chilliwack from 2016-2023 and operated as the Chilliwack Tulip Festival. We have now moved to Agassiz, and this will be our 1st year operating on our new farm at 5039 Lougheed Hwy, Agassiz, BC, back where we started.

Are the tulips just grown for the experience?

Our fields are first and foremost a working farm. That means, you’re visiting a real, agricultural, family-run business, where we work the land, not just for show, but to provide the community with beautiful flowers and to showcase the bountiful agri-tourism that exists in BC.

In fact, we grew bulbs way before we opened our fields to the public, through our greenhouse operation, Onos Greenhouses Ltd. It just so happened that people wanted to not only buy the cut flowers for their tabletops but wanted to watch them flower in a magnificent array of colour in their natural habitat, the fields!

Once they’ve finished blooming in the fields, we harvest the tulip bulbs and sort them by size. The largest ones are used to grow our cash crop of cut tulips. Onos Greenhouses grows over 14 million tulips between January 1st and Mother’s Day each year, with about 30% of them originating from the bulbs in our fields, and the rest of the bulbs are imported from Holland. They also grow several hundred thousand hyacinths in their greenhouses, also for cut flowers.

See our Year in a Life page for more details on the life of a tulip bulb.

How big are your fields?

Size does matter when you want a magnificent shot of a tulip field. Not only are we the original tulip festival in Western Canada (18 years running), but we also grow the most bulbs (10 million to be exact)!

Our farm uses some of the most sophisticated planting equipment, direct from Holland, to maximize the productivity of the land. This allows us to plant extra-wide beds of tulips (180 cm wide) resulting in over 40% more flowers per acre than other growers and thus the biggest overall display, approximately 10 million flowers for the 2024 season. We don’t like to brag, but that’s over and above the average for most growers in North America.

And now, with our added three acres of specialty ‘peony-like’ double daffodils and two acres of hyacinths and our 2 acre show garden, we have over 35 acres of floral splendour to enjoy.

Do you pick the flowers in your fields?

It’s tempting. However, those precious bulbs are important to us. They’re the primary product from our fields. We harvest them in late May or early June and use them for our Cut Tulip Operation in Onos Greenhouses. If we cut the Tulips, the bulbs wouldn’t grow large enough and therefore couldn’t be used for our cut flower business.

Then, why do you cut off just the tulip blooms when they are in full bloom?

It can be confusing, but we do this for a very good reason. Since we plant early, mid and late-season tulips, naturally some come into bloom before others. Just before the petals begin to naturally fall off, a process we call “blooming out”, we cut off the tulip heads to have control of where the blooms fall, and this also prevents the energy from going into growing seeds. This keeps the petals from falling onto the stems and leaves of the tulips allowing the remaining green plants to live as long as possible in order to grow large, strong bulbs in the ground. Otherwise, early plant death can occur from fungus or rot from loose, dying petals.

Don’t worry, there’s always more on the way. The early blooms will disappear, only to be replaced by late blooming Tulips in nearby rows. Our tulip fields continually change. That’s why it’s great to visit them more than once. If you want to see the most varieties, we suggest that you come in the middle of the season, when they’ll all be blooming at roughly the same time.

Are there kid-friendly activities on the grounds?

We wouldn’t forget the kiddies. We have something for everyone! We want to make this an exciting and educational experience for all, with a little taste of what goes on at a working farm. There will be more than just fabulous tulips. We also have great activities for children, such as:

• Lawn games when weather permits*
• Many great photo ops!

Will other activities be offered during the tulip season?

You probably want to know if we have more than flowers? Yes, those 7 million tulips are the jewel in our crown, but we also have many other activities and displays, so you can experience a whole day of fun. Other than the chance to enjoy our beautiful fields, we also have:

1. On-site food truck – for the 2024 season there will be 2 food trucks at the fields daily, ready to keep those tummies full so you can give the fields a second round. This April we are offering Sasquatch Feet Pastries served by one of our exceptional food trucks.
2. Special Photo Opportunities – want a great background for your smartphone? Or maybe some memorable family pics, or fun ones with your friends? Around the field, there are plenty of places to take that special photo, like beside our windmill, our old Dutch bikes, one of our swing sets or by the various field-viewing platforms. Come discover the best photo backdrop you’ll ever find!
3. You can also shop at The Farm Shop – bring back a souvenir! Impress your friends with tulip magnets, keychains, tulip tea towels, photo cards, or grab a unique gift for someone special. Hey, who has tulip aprons? Now, that’s original!

Look for some of these other items, available at our store:

• Fresh-cut greenhouse tulips and hyacinths
• Potted tulips
• Postcards/photo cards
• Tulip Aprons and Tea Towels
• Tulip Prints in paper, metal and wood options
• Tulip Pens, Magnets, Keychains
• Tulip Shopping Bags
• Tulip Travel Mugs and Ceramic Mugs
• Prepackaged Stroopwafels and Dutch Candy
• and much more…

Will there be places to sit and get out of the weather?

If it should rain, and in BC that’s always a possibility, we’ve got you covered – literally. There’s no need to skip the fields. We will have a couple of covered areas in case of rain or too much sun. We’ll also have several benches set up around the fields, so you can take a rest when needed, or for photo opportunities if the mood should strike.

How should I dress?

We wouldn’t recommend expensive heels or your Sunday best. Anything that might not go well with a little dirt, you might want to leave it at home. We are a farm and you will be walking in dirt fields. And though we do our best to ensure there are some areas that remain clean and dry, most of our pathways are dirt and can get muddy on wet days.

We advise you to bring the following:

• Gumboots or good walking shoes/boots – that way, rain or shine, you’re prepared for all weather conditions!
• An umbrella, or something with a hood, in case it rains.
• A rain jacket, to keep you warm and toasty as you stroll the fields. And layering clothes is always a good option, so you can remove items if it gets hot, or add them in if it’s a bit chilly.

Do you have bathrooms?

Well, we don’t want you tinkling in the tulips, so we have ample, regularly serviced, portable toilets on-site, with some accessible stalls and several hand-wash stations.

Smoking, Vaping?

We want to keep the air clean for all our visitors and a safe experience for all, so please, no smoking on the festival grounds, including our parking lots. We also ask that you refrain from vaping, as some people have sensitivities to the propellants in these products.

What methods of payment do you accept?

At one point in history, you could pay your way in Tulip bulbs (no kidding, it’s true!). Tickets are available both online and at the gate and are sold by the hour Both the Ticket booth and the The Farm Shop accept cash, debit or credit.

Do you provide refunds?

Sorry, tickets are non-refundable.

Are Drones Allowed?

Though drones can give some fantastic aerial views and images, to respect our visitors’ privacy and safety, we don’t allow drones on the fields. Due to Transport Canada area restrictions, drones are not allowed at the farm or in the surrounding area.