The Spalding Flower Parade

The history of the Spalding Flower Parade

A single float
which can be as much as
50 feet in length
may be decorated by as
many as 100,000
tulip heads

Various shots of a field of brightly coloured tulips; an elderly man in a flat cap, Charles Shaw, examines some blooms....click here to read more.

The origins of the world-famous Spalding Flower Parade stretch right back to the 1920's and 1930's
The Jubilee in 1935 of King George V and Queen Mary coincided with the time the tulips were in flower
In 1948, the Growers' Association became involved in organising a Tulip Week. A 25-mile tour through villages and country lanes was planned to show the best fields
By 1950, Tulip Week had become Tulip Time and was developed in conjunction with the Spalding Urban District Council over three designated weekends
To ensure that there would always be tulips on display, even if they might not be in the fields, from the many millions of tulip flower heads removed, it was decided to keep some available for decorative purposes
In 1959, the first Spalding Tulip Parade took place. Within a few years this Parade was to become world famous and even more popular than the tulip fields themselves