Each year, Pella invites everyone to attend the annual Tulip Time festival on the first weekend in May to celebrate the city’s Dutch heritage.

In 2017, a record-breaking number of people R.S.V.P’d “yes” to take part in the celebration.

According to Pella Historical Society, an estimated crowd of 200,000 was in attendance for the 82nd annual Tulip Time activities May 4th through the 6th.

Executive Director Valerie Van Kooten tells KNIA/KRLS News the estimate is based off of numerous factors, including ticket receipts, parking, drone surveillance, and vendor sales, among others over the three days of the celebration.

“We hit the perfect trifecta this year of weather, tulips still blooming, and some great marketing,” she says.

Van Kooten says a typical festival will have between 100,000 to 150,000 participants. Total financial receipts won’t be back for a few weeks for Pella Historical, but Van Kooten says the impact this year’s gate will have on their exhibits and programs will likely be felt for years to come. A portion of proceeds from grandstand entertainment, parking, food booths, and other activities are used for Pella Historical Society’s annual expenses.

“It’s wonderful for us because we have been overly-dependent on good Tulip Times to pay our bills throughout the year,” she says. “Hopefully, this will give us a bit of a launching pad and a bit of a cushion for some rainy day Tulip Times ahead.”

Van Kooten says she had numerous people asking her how the festival is even possible in a town the size of Pella, and she believes volunteers are the biggest key.

“The six people on our steering committee alone have put in three-to-four-thousand hours total of volunteer time this year,” she says.

“Volunteers who are working in the village, parking areas, church stands, and parking lots, it’s just an amazing number and we need to continue that for the next generation into the future in order to make Tulip Time continue to thrive and grow.”