Istanbul Tulip Festival
April 1 · Level 4 · #1536 of 2238
The Istanbul Tulip Festival fills the city's parks and squares with spring colour. Tulips have a long place in Ottoman art, so the displays celebrate a piece of Istanbul's cultural heritage as well as its gardens.
How it is celebrated: residents and visitors stroll past flower beds, photograph elaborate planting patterns and compare varieties. Emirgan Park, Gülhane Park and Sultanahmet Square are popular viewing spots, with the best flowering times depending on the weather.
An entire period of Ottoman history, from 1718 to 1730, is known as the Tulip Era. Enthusiasm for the flower became shorthand for an age.