The 2018 Tulip Time Queen and Royal Court was crowned over the weekend at the annual Queen’s Announcement Party.

Queen Juliana Van Gorp and a court made up of Elise Beukelman, Lexi Dejong, Naomi Tripp, and Tressa Vos will represent Pella ahead of the 83rd Tulip Time festival. Van Gorp tells KNIA/KRLS News she did not expect to be selected to lead the court in the coming year.

“To hear my name as the queen, I really was not expecting it and I was just truly joyful and grateful for the judges who spent their time here, and I’m just really excited for the upcoming spring,” Van Gorp says.

The 2018 Royal Court will make their first official appearance during the annual Pella Historical Society Sinterklaas parade on December 2nd, and will prepare a presentation in January to take around the state to promote Tulip Time this spring.