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I have wanted to attend this festival now since I was about 12 years old but it just never seemed to happen so this year I decided I was going to make sure we got there. We organised to stay with our son and family the night before as they are close to where the festival is held and our daughter-in-law also wanted to attend. The festival didn't open until 10.00am so Robb and I decided to get a coffee to have back at the house before we left so we drove down to Red Relish in Yarra Junction to see if they were open. We hadn't been back to Red Relish for a few years and ownership has changed in that time. We were very pleasantly surprised with the service and goods on offer, we only ordered coffee but they were good coffees, we had a look around at the food on display and it looked fantastic. The pies, cakes etc are all made in house and they certainly encouraged me to go back for breakfast or lunch one day. We sat outside back home to have our coffees, it was a beautiful morning so we had great hopes for the day which we are happy to say worked out for us.
We left home at 10.00am as it was only a 10 minute drive to the festival, when we arrived there were a few cars lined up but generally it was fairly quiet so we managed to get a good spot close to the entry. This was the first day of the festival and we had been following the progress of the tulips and knew they weren't all out that day but it was convenient to visit then. There weren't many tulips on display at all but we did get to see a variety of colours of these beautiful flowers and there were lots of other plants and trees in bloom to make the visit worthwhile. The festival was well organised with lots to do for adults and children and some excellent food trucks. It was a Turkish celebration that weekend so the main stage had different groups playing Turkish tunes so we sat and listened to the music while the children had a snack. We later walked down to watch the dutch dancing display which our grandchildren joined in on and had fun and we took lots of photos. The highlight though for the children was the fairy who was wandering around the festival and then they enjoyed the time she spent with storytelling in the fairy wood, this kept the children amused for ages. The variety of food on offer was excellent and while we didn't eat much the food we tried was good. The festival is well worth a visit and there is a nursery if you want to purchase plants or bulbs. We were most impressed though with our free passes to come back at another time because the tulips weren't in full bloom, this is a great PR exercise.
