HOLLAND, Michigan — Several hundred people purchased reduced-price Dutch reproduction costumes for Tulip Time Tuesday at an annual resale event in Park Township.
The line of customers extended out the doors of Harderwyk Ministries on W Lakewood Boulevard for the 68th annual Holland Area Newcomers resale.
It’s a high energy event every year, said Roberta Mitchell, a Holland Area Newcomers board member.
“Children are excited, the parents are excited – we have hundreds of costumes to choose from,” Mitchell said. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”
The sale had around 500 new and used Dutch costumes for people of all ages and sizes. Average prices ranged between $20 and $75, serving as an affordable alternative to the more elaborate Dutch dancer costumes worn by Tulip Time dancers, Mitchell said.
The authentic Dutch reproduction costumes made specifically for Tulip Time’s Dutch dancers cost around $300 each. Tulip Time has raised nearly $40,000 for high school costumes through its Join the Dance initiative.
“It may be their first Tulip Time, maybe they are people who just moved to Holland…so everyone is used to coming here to shop for the costumes,” she said. “They don’t have to worry about [if] their child will be able to perform in the parade, where they are going to get their costume from – we provide that community service.”
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