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Is There a Daffodil Festival Near You?

© Mary Lou Gripshover

Have you ever been to a daffodil show, or a daffodil festival? No? Maybe this is the year you should go. Shows are good places to see a wide variety of daffodils which should do well in your area. Daffodil festivals are pretty diverse. Some have acres of daffodils to wander through, while others involve the community in parades and other activities. In both cases, you’ll probably meet some interesting people.

“Show season” doesn’t start until March in the United States, but daffodils have been blooming since January in Florida and Texas, and parts of California. This month, you can head out to the H. Nelton Adams Memorial Daffodil Field in Dodson, Louisiana, to see the 20,000 daffodils in bloom. Open day is February 23, from 11a.m. to 4pm. Contact Thera Lou Adams at theralou@arkansas.net for directions.

Sometime between mid-February and mid-March, whenever the daffodils bloom, Wye Mountain in central Arkansas is covered with acres upon acres of “screaming yellow daffodils” and thousands of people just show up with blankets and picnic baskets. A local church owns the field, and sells daffodils to help pay the minister’s salary. Contact Betty Harmon, 1402 Highway #113S, Bigelow, AR 72016.

The first really big festival of the season is in Camden, Arkansas, on March 7-8. This festival has garden tours with acres of daffodils, tours of historic homes and farms, a Japanese Garden, Civil War re-enactors, herbs, and lots of Master Gardeners to answer your questions. They have lots of Historic Daffodils, and you can buy the bulbs to plant in your own garden. There are crafters, entertainment, and even a wild turkey calling contest. http://www.camdenfestival.com or clarafreeland@cablelynx.com

The three-day Jonquil Festival takes place in Old Washington Historic State Park in Arkansas on March 14-16. Thousands of blooming jonquils dot the landscape to welcome craftspeople, entertainers and visitors to celebrate spring in this historic setting. The entire town of 100-plus-year old homes are restored and maintained by Arkansas State Parks. http://www.arkansasstateparks.com or oldwashington@arkansas.com.

If you’re travelling near Rome, Italy, and want to see daffodils, check out the 15th Mostra del narciso between 22 March and 20 April. http://www.floriana.ws/mostra_del_narcis... If you’re intimidated by the Italian, contact Dr. Henry Shejbal at jshejbal@tiscali.it. Henry speaks perfect English.

Each March, on the weekend nearest St. Patrick’s Day, the quaint gold-rush town of Murphys, California, explodes with festivities as the town celebrates its roots with Irish Days, a weekend festival that brings together food, wine, art, music and a spectacular display of over 300,000 daffodils in bloom. This year’s date is March 15-16. There are cooking demonstrations by the winners of the professional chefs recipe contest, a juried art exhibition on a daffodil theme, a children’s art exhibition, dance performances, and live music. The Northern California Daffodil Society holds one of its shows at the Kautz Ironstone Vineyards. You can end Saturday by partaking of the four-course winemaker dinner during which the winning entrée and dessert are served. http://www.geocities.com/obsession_vines/ or jjlevine@goldrush.com

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