HOLLAND, Michigan — This week was supposed to be Tulip Time in Holland, but due to COVID-19, the festival has been canceled for the first time in 91 years.
Organizers recently launched several fundraising campaigns they hope will help recoup lost income from the 2020 cancellation.
"It's really a strange week to not be doing all the festival activities, prep and talking to visitors," said Gwen Auwerda, Tulip Time director. "Our staff is having a really hard time with it because we planned a whole year for this and here we are."
While the festival has been canceled, Auwerda says she and her staff have been busy using the time to create streams of revenue through several fundraising campaigns, including a GoFundMe campaign which they hope generates funds that can be put toward 2021 Tulip Time.
"All of our ticket revenue income has gone away this year, and that's two-thirds of our budget," said Auwerda. "To not have that income is devastating to our organization financially.
"We have a goal of $250,000 to raise through the GoFundMe campaign."
The campaign was launched in late April and Auwerda says it'll remain alive until the financial goal is met.
Despite the cancellation, Auwerda adds that Tulip Time merchandise has been selling very well off the festival's website.
"There are about 200 orders backlogged at the moment," said Auwerda.
This is the first time the Tulip Time Festival has been cancelled. During World War II, there was still a festival and tulips were planted, but everything was scaled back
"Tulip Time brings in a $48 million economic impact to local downtown businesses, including hotels and restaurants," added Auwerda. "Some of the smaller Holland retailers told me that during the 9-day event, they get 20% of their annual budget, so for that to go completely away is really challenging.
"That's a major reason why we need financial support."
Auwerda says the organization began working on the 2021 Tulip Time event, but she's quick to admit she and her staff really have no idea what that will look like, given the effects of COVID-19.
"We need to try and understand what the landscape is going to look like," said Auwerda. "I don't know what CDC guidelines are going to be; nobody really knows if this virus is going to pick back up again; what social distancing is going to be like a year from now.
"There's a lot of unknowns that we're really trying to unpack and figure out what we can plan without the risk of being where we are today."
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