The first tulip festival in Iowa this spring is May 6 through 8, 2010. Pella’s Tulip Time Festival marks its 75th anniversary this year, Road Trips Gardeners. It’s a celebration of the tulip, of course, but also of the town’s Dutch heritage. There’ll be street scrubbing, Dutch dancers, tulip gardens, historical village with working crafters, Scholte House tours, crafts and quilts. Plans call for an attempt to establish a world record for the most Dutch dancers in wooden shoes dancing in one place at one time!

What’s the Scholte House? In 1847, 800 Hollanders, under the leadership of Dominie Scholte, left the Netherlands for America. They settled down in Iowa and created a town named Pella (which means “city of refuge”). Dominie promised his wife to build a house like the one she left in Holland. He held true to his word and about a year later, the 22-room house was ready.