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Photo: Andrew Scheer, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons
During the Second World War, the Government of Canada sheltered exiled members of the Dutch Royal Family in Ottawa, and even declared part of the Ottawa Hospital as "extraterritorial" so that Princess Margriet of the Netherlands would not be born a British citizen (making her ineligible for the throne of the Netherlands). After the end of the war and every year since, the Dutch royal family has sent thousands of tulip bulbs in gratitude. Each May, they blossom into a spring bonanza of flowering bulbs, and a concert series features well-known Canadian rock and other popular music groups. The festival activities focus on Commissioner's Park, but over a million tulips bloom in public gardens in parks throughout the city.
The Canadian Tulip Festival is a tulip festival held annually each May in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The festival claims to be the world's largest tulip festival, displaying over one million tulips, with attendance of over 650,000 visitors annually. Large displays of tulips are planted throughout the city, the largest of which are often in Commissioners Park on the shores of Dow's Lake, and along the Rideau Canal with 300,000 tulips planted there alone.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Located adjacent to Dows Lake, where you can rent boats, it features the Festival of Tulips in May. In summer, there are a number of flower beds with flowers arranged by colour in attractive patterns.
Art exhibitions and educational events to explore and activate the ideas that shape contemporary society.
A working animal farm in the city. You can visit animal barns, see various demonstrations and exhibitions, and ride on a horse-drawn wagon. The museum also has a playground and picnic area. It is very popular with young children and a welcome change of pace for kids who have seen enough history after visiting some of the other sights.
Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Replacing the city's former Ottawa Fury FC is this club owned by Spanish soccer giants Atlético Madrid. Unlike Fury FC, which played at the second level of US soccer (the USL Championship), Atlético Ottawa plays in the domestic Canadian Premier League.