Last year was the first year for the La Conner Daffodil Festival. Until then, we only had the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival each year. I remember going to the Tulip Festival for the first time when I was seven years old. I remember it because that was the first time my Dad let me use our family video camera on my own. To be honest, the footage I took that day was completely unwatchable. It was nothing but shaky camera shots of the ground for 45 minutes. When my family watched the footage, we all got motion sickness, and my siblings teased my camera abilities for years.

Thankfully, my camera abilities improved over time, and last year I had the chance to film the brand new La Conner Daffodil Festival. That was my first opportunity to film flowers since I was seven years old, and the result was decidedly better.

Tulips are a big part of the Skagit Valley, but I never knew Daffodils were such a big part too. When I crouched down in the flowers to take video, I was blown away by their beauty, and I had to share it with my family. I ran back to get my wife and our two sons, and dragged them out to the fields. At that time, our sons were 18 months and 6 months old, so I didn’t think that spending a Saturday afternoon looking at flowers would be fun for them. But they had a blast. We enjoyed the sights and smells, and we even took some family photos as we made some new family memories.

No matter where you’re from, or how old you are, there is something for everyone at the La Conner Daffodil Festival.

On March 12th there’s the Kiwaffodil Celebration. The La Conner Kiwanis will be celebrating their 101st Anniversary with the 2nd annual event during the La Conner Daffodil Festival – The Kiwaffodil! Enjoy an old fashioned Hoot’nanny with Bluegrass music at Maple Hall and the opportunity for open mic! 5pm – 10pm.

Then on March 26th, there’s the Dandy Daffodil Tweed Ride. A tweed ride is a return to a bygone era in England when families would dress in their best clothing, assemble a picnic lunch, get on the train with their bicycles and go out to the countryside. Riding their bicycles home.What would be better than a group ride among fields of daffodils in which the cyclists dress in classic tweed or any smart looking outfit.