Thousands of visitors are expected in Edendale on Monday when the town's annual Tulip Day opens one of Triflor's flowering paddocks to the public for a single day.
The 22nd Tulip Day runs from 10am to 4pm on Labour Day, with the event hub at the Edendale Recreation Grounds. Entry is by donation, which also covers the van tours and access to the open tulip paddock.
The day is organised by the Edendale Presbyterian Church as a fundraiser, with all donations going to the local community groups that help run it. It began in 2004 and has drawn visitors from across New Zealand.
Triflor, the Dutch-owned company that grows millions of bulbs on more than 100 hectares around the eastern Southland town, sponsors the event, provides the viewing paddock and has organised the van tours. The vans are driven by the workers who tend the tulips.
Triflor general manager Kathryn Searle said that made the tours worthwhile, because the drivers knew where to go and which varieties visitors were looking at. "The van drivers are actually the workers that work with the tulips," she said.
Visitors can also drive themselves to the paddock. Organisers warn that access to the field may be withdrawn if weather, environmental conditions or biosecurity concerns pose a risk, in which case only the van tours will run. Updates will be posted on the Edendale Presbyterian Church and Triflor Facebook pages.
Stalls, bulbs and flights
More than 25 food and market stalls will set up at the recreation grounds, and 18 varieties of tulip bulbs will be on sale for home gardeners. Organisers suggest bringing cash, as not all stallholders will have eftpos.
High Country Helicopters is offering flights over the tulip fields for $120 a person, weather permitting.
The Wyndham Pioneer Lions will sell food, the Wyndham and Districts Historical Society is managing the mini-vans and the MenzShed will collect donations at the gate and help with parking. Pets and drones are not allowed.
Organisers say the day is once again shaping up as one of tulips and photo opportunities, with full access to amenities and car parking at the recreation grounds.
Triflor's crop is grown for bulbs rather than cut flowers, and Tulip Day is the one day of the year the public can get into a flowering paddock.
It is one of a cluster of events across the region over Labour Weekend, which also features trains, trucks, a waka paddling race and a fishing competition on lakes Te Anau and Manapouri.
Edendale is about 40km north-east of Invercargill on State Highway 1.
