Ottawa’s Tulip Festival making adjustments to reduce crowding, not cancelling 2020 events
Posted Mar 10, 2020 05:15:00 PM.
The Canadian Tulip Festival draws thousands of visitors every spring, and organizers in the capital are hoping this year will be no different amid coronavirus concerns.
General Manager Jo Riding says there will be some adjustments made to some of the festival's plans to reduce crowding — taking advantage of the fact that the festival is an outdoor event.
“With 1.2 km of parkland, we can provide a much safer strolling experience, with less congestion than other concert-based festivals,” writes Riding in a statement to OttawaMatters.com.
She says the Minister of Health and the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Cultural Industries have indicated they should continue planning public events.
“Should we be told that public gatherings are no longer advised or allowed,” explains Riding, “we will be moving our festival experience to an online platform, with live stream events, online contests, and a new online Tulip Boutique.”
The festival is set to run from May 8 to 18.
Meanwhile, the Ottawa Race Weekend is another major local event to release a COVID-19 statement. Organizers of that event are not changing anything yet.
Races are run on May 23 and 24.
“Should the current risk level change in such a way that we would consider modifications to Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, we will advise all guests to ensure everyone has the most up to date information at hand,” reads a statement on the race weekend website.
