01 OC Mag 01-24

Planning and plantings start
months before annual May
tulip-filled extravaganza
to nursing homes, schools, Pella’s
Tulip Time Festival and the Iowa
State Capitol.
“We’ll brainstorm and get on paper
what the girls want to talk and
share about the festival,” McDonald
said. “It’s more local, helping people
know what’s coming.”
Beyond the training, McDonald
said it is important for the girls to
spend time together. The Orange
City Tulip Festival, at its heart, is a
chance for community and connection,
and the court is no different.
Over winter break, the girls
participated in gift exchanges and
Christmas parties together, bonding
before they enter a busy season later
in the spring.
McDonald, who was a member
of the Tulip Court when she was a
senior at MOC-Floyd Valley High
School in 2012, said forming relationships
is one of the best parts of
the experience.
In addition to the road show, the
girls are looking forward to another
event: the Tulip Festival Extravaganza
on March 20, where they will
unveil their costumes to the public
for the first time.
“They’re absolutely gorgeous from
what I’ve seen so far,” McDonald
said.
The costumes
When Queen’s Committee member
Amanda Haverdink attended her
first Tulip Festival after college, she
knew she wanted a Dutch costume.
After she married her husband, Aaron,
an Orange City native, she got to
work, sewing two intricate costumes
with a design from the village of
Marken, Holland.
Much of the N’West Iowa community
gets involved through wearing
traditional dress, often participating
as “street sweepers” who prepare the
downtown streets for the parade.
Many also walk in the parade, organized
by the province that their
style of dress is from. Though to an
outside eye, many Dutch costumes
may look the same, there are more
than 60 different costume patterns
from 22 different provinces.
Some of the most intricate
“One thing that has always been a priority in Orange City is authenticity.
22 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2024