Arkansas Tulip Festival

The Arkansas Tulip Festival is an annual festival hosted by the Rivercrest Orchard in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the beginning of Spring. They celebrate the season of the tulips by growing a field filled with every color you can think of, as well as providing an environment for both adults and children with food stands and a market. While the weather permits, they have rounds of hot air balloons that give a view of the entire field, with a little glimpse of the city it is housed in.

I attended the tulip farm with my partner during its grand opening on March 22, 2025. The weather was beautiful with a bit of wind. We were most excited about collecting tulips, but we quickly realized that a large amount of the tulips weren’t in bloom just yet. We had to restrict ourselves to certain patches to pull from. Each tulip was $2, with a bouquet of twelve flowers or a bouquet of twenty-four, getting a free souvenir. We each got one tulip.

The train that takes you around half of the orchard was up and open, offering free rides. The ride is about five minutes long, taking you around the kids' area, under a bridge near the trees, around the tulip field, and back to the start.

To end our visit, we made a stop at the food stands and market. At the entrance to your right are two stands: a taco stand and a pizza stand. To your left is the orchard market with its own treats. They usually have desserts and meals inspired by their own crops, but this time around, they only had specialty drinks. They offered an $8 strawberry dream slush, which was filled to the top with sour and sweet, pink ice drinks. To the side, I ordered their $3 cranberry raspberry soda, which had an interesting aftertaste of mint mouthwash. Finally, we ordered a 7” pepperoni pizza for about $8.

My total, including the $15 tickets I bought during their 40% off sale, was around $53. The tulip farm is the perfect place to go for a nice date, but if you have a budget, you may need to prioritize certain things during your visit.