OTTAWA, ON, May 1, 2024 /CNW/ - Two of the Capital's most historic and successful economic drivers are teaming up to turn it up! Tourism is vital to Ottawa and the Canadian Tulip Festival welcomes the world from May 10 to May 20, 2024.

Dow's Lake, along the UNESCO World Heritage Rideau Canal, is centre-stage for new major events on the background of 300,000 tulips. Downstream, as the Rideau Canal meets the Ottawa River, the exact birthplace of the city, the ByWard Market BLOOMS with many new attractions.

On the Canadian Tulip Festival's opening weekend, May 10 and 11, the historic ByWard Market neighbourhood will unveil its 2024 outdoor public market season, along with a spectacular Mother's Day Flower Market nestled among its many restaurants, patios, and local shops. Following this, on Saturday, May 18, from 5-10 p.m. (EST), we invite you to join us for the "ByWard Night Market: Tulip Palooza & Street Party." This event promises a lively celebration with a pollinator's paradise theme, creating a dazzling atmosphere for guests to revel in and get their glow on.

"The revitalization of the ByWard Market District includes rebuilding essential connections with event organizers, particularly ones that foster partnerships that help grow the participation of visitors, residents, and businesses in new and engaging ways," said the Executive Director of the ByWard Market District Authority, Zachary Dayler. "The ByWard Public Market is where this City started some 200 years ago - and as we look toward the next two centuries, it is time to start planting the seeds of what's to come," he added. 

Just like in past years, organizers will place large tulip statues in iconic spots around the city, such as the ByWard Market. However, this year, they're also getting an upgrade! These new tulip statues will not only add beauty to the neighborhood but are also made with materials that prioritize both impact and sustainability.

The Canadian Tulip Festival's Executive Director Jo Riding said, "The ByWard Market is where most tourists begin their tulip adventure across our beautiful city, so this partnership is perfect. As two of Ottawa's biggest tourism draws, and most internationally renowned features of the National Capital Region, it only makes sense to makes the most of our traditions together!"

This year, connecting the two main venues has never been easier with the ByWard Market Hop-On Hop-Off Tulip Tour visitors and residents can traverse the city for only $5 return! The bus runs hourly on weekdays from the Tulip Plaza on York Street, at the OTTAWA Letters, to the Canadian Tulip Festival's main location at Commissioners Park. Once there, you can tip-toe among the tulips while supporting local at the mini-market or walking the black light boardwalk in the evening.

• An RCAF Centennial Fly By at the opening ceremony May 11 at Commissioners Park that includes a parade starting at Preston Street at the Queen Elizabeth Driveway.
• A spectacular 200-drone show will happen over Dow's Lake on May 19, to wrap up the celebration.

The Canadian Tulip Festival Opening Ceremonies begin at 10:30 a.m. (EDT) Saturday, May 11, and will include this year's honoured Second World War Veteran, RCAF Second World War Lancaster Tail Gunner, 98-year-old, Ronald "Shorty" Moyes.

The parade with the Canadian Armed Forces Central Band will travel along Queen Elizabeth Driveway starting at Preston Street at 10:40 a.m. and will travel past "The Man with Two Hats" Monument at Dow's Lake, and form into position at the Movies & More Screen in Commissioners Park for the ceremony start at 11:00 a.m.

Following remarks from dignitaries and the ceremonial sponsor, Calian Group, the festival opening will be marked by both a cannon salute from HMCS Carleton, and an RCAF fly past at 11:40 a.m.

The festival is free and ungated and offers a new self-guided Tulip Legacy Tour using seven stops with QR Codes. While telling Ottawa's history, it allows visitors to travel back in time over eight millennia.

Family-friendly movies in Commissioners Park are available at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. daily, weather permitting. High-flying fun continues on the Mother's Day Weekend with mini planes and a runway from the Edenvale Classic Aircraft Foundation for children. The RCAF Flower Fun Run, starts at noon Sunday, May 12.

Food Trucks will be open on site from 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily serving tasty festival favourites such as popcorn, fudge and BeaverTails. The Tulip Market features regional artisans offering tulip-themed treasures, along with the Tulip Boutique, offering official merchandise and souvenirs, with proceeds supporting the Canadian Tulip Legacy.

Free nightly programming includes the ever-popular Blacklight Boardwalk at Dow's Lake with more than 2000 tulips and daffodils lit in UV light, to experience how pollinators see them.

At 9 p.m. every night, the Sound & Light Story at the movie screen "Operation Manna" will make audiences feel they are part of the heroic RCAF effort to save the starving people of the Netherlands. Adapted from the memoirs of "Shorty" Moyes, this humanitarian operation of incredibly dangerous, low-flying food drops, forged a bond of friendship for over seven decades.

The closing ceremonies will begin at 8:30 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday, May 19 beginning at the Movie Screen in the Main Festival Field. It will be capped off with a new 10-minute, 200-Drone "Drone Show" over Dow's Lake, at 9:30 pm.

Festival Parking is available at Carleton University, P7 Lot, for $12 daily. The festival is an eight (8) minute walk with stairs and the route will be clearly marked. New this year, Ekeau's Tulip Water Taxi Service with a historical audio tour is available, loading just north of the Carleton Parking Lot, and taking guests directly to the Festival's Blacklight Boardwalk, for $12 per person, per ride, plus tax and fees. 

Also new, the Chartwell People Mover provides limited golf cart shuttle service, available daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., running the 1.2 km length of Commissioners Park. Priority will be given to those with mobility issues, and the cost is $2 per person, per ride.

For those in need of accessible options, Dows Lake Road will be marked as no parking for the duration of the festival, allowing only those with accessibility permits to park, with two flat, barrier-free points of egress to Commissioners Park. Further, the Dow's Lake Pavilion Roundabout at 1001 Queen Elizabeth Driveway is available for accessible pickup and drop off, and also serves as a ParaTranspo Stop.

Guests are also able to park at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, for $9 daily. The walk to the festival site is twenty (20) minutes, through the Experimental Farm and Dominion Arboretum. The walking path is clearly marked, with an audio tour available for download.

The Queen Elizabeth Driveway will be closed from Preston St. to Torrington Ave. on Saturday, May 11, Sunday, May 12, and Saturday, May 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Sunday, May 19 the road will remain closed from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., to accommodate the grand finale drone show.

For more information on the Canadian Tulip Festival and its exciting lineup of events, visit www.tulipfestival.ca.

The Canadian Tulip Festival is an annual celebration of the return of Spring, featuring more than a million tulips across Ottawa. Established in 1953, the festival commemorates the gift of tulips from the Netherlands to Canada following the Second World War, symbolizing international friendship and peace.

April 1^st, 2024, marks 100 years of service for the Royal Canadian Air Force as a distinct military element. The RCAF Centennial is an opportunity to showcase Air Force personnel and their accomplishments, demonstrate air and space power, enhance the reputation of the RCAF, and proudly honour its distinguished history and heritage. Events of all types, including your favourite Air Shows, will be held across Canada throughout 2024 to commemorate this milestone. RCAF Centennial Website

The ByWard Market District boasts over 350 permanent businesses and over 300 seasonal vendors. It is managed and operated through the ByWard Market District Authority (BMDA), a Municipal Services Corporation (MSC). The BMDA also oversees the public markets program at both the ByWard and Parkdale Markets. BMDA Website. 

SOURCE Canadian Tulip Festival