Wing Fai & Wendy: Tulip Time Festival @ Holland, Michigan

We went to Holland, Michigan for their Tulip Time Festival on Saturday. Had wanted to go on Wed but the forecast was thunder showers so we decided to postpone the trip. No point going if it was raining as we most probably won't get to see much. In the end though Sat was not a rainy day, it was an extremely windy and thus cold day. Did not feel like Spring at all... We left early in the morning as it was a 3 hours drive there and reached Holland slightly before 10am...

This is the Tulip Time Festival banner on street lamps...

Me waiting for the Klompen Dancers performance to start at 10am...

The Klompen Dancers comprised of groups of high school students dressed in Dutch costumes and wearing the traditional wooden shoes... They lined the whole street... Here's a video clip of the 1st dance...

Photos of some Klompen Dancers...

After the performance, the Klompen Dancers went to collect their buckets and scrubs and then started scrubbing the streets... Very cute...

Photos of tulips that lined the streets...

Then we went to the Dutch Marktplaats where there are stalls selling Dutch food and Dutch arts and crafts...
Left: Stall that sells Dutch lace, nice Christmas tree deco but expensive at USD4 a piece.
Middle: Woman decorating the wooden shoes.
Right: Man demonstrating how wooden shoes are made.

Food that we tried... The 1st two items were recommended to us by the person at the stall. The 1st item is basically pastry with minced meat inside... This is really nice!! Like the mashed potatoes too.. =)

Me enjoying the meal... =p

We watched another Klompen Dancers performance while we waited for the parade to start. Here's some highlights from the 2nd performance...

And here's some highlights from the Meijer Muziekparade, the grand finale for the Tulip Time Festival 2009! It is basically made up of bands, floats, horses, Klompen Dancers and other performers...