Liberation75 National Commemorative Planting Campaign Announced

OTTAWA, May 10, 2019 /CNW/ - During this morning's opening of the 67th annual Canadian Tulip Festival, Henk van der Zwan, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in partnership with the Festival, the National Capital Commission, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and the Royal Canadian Legion announced the kick-off of a National Commemorative Tulip Planting Campaign - "Liberation75" - in preparation for the 2020 celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands and the end of the Second World War. 

For more than six decades the Canadian Tulip Festival has served as both a celebration and a remembrance of the Dutch Royal Gift of tulips to Canada. For the spring celebrations in 2020 the goal is to cover Canada in 1.1 million "Liberation75" Tulips in honour of the 1.1 million Canadians who served during the Second World War. 

To initiate the national bulb planting program this fall, the Kingdom of the Netherlands will repeat the 1945 post-war gift from the Dutch Royal Family of 100,000 tulip bulbs to Canada. "The people of the Netherlands will never forget the liberation and we, at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, are very grateful to join the Canadian Tulip Festival and partners in the "Liberation75" campaign as part of our "75 Years of Freedom" activities that should engage all of Canada in remembering the struggles, sacrifices and joys of that occasion," according to Henk van der Zwan, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Canada.

National Capital Commission ("NCC") CEO, Mr. Tobi Nussbaum, joins the campaign and announced that the NCC will match the gift of the Netherlands by purchasing a second lot of 100,000 Liberation75 bulbs for the fall planting. Of those, 75,000 of the NCC bulbs will be placed in gardens around the capital and 25,000 will be distributed across all the provinces and territories.

The remaining 900,000 will be sold on-line at Liberation75.ca by the Canadian Tulip Legacy organization in bags of 15 bulbs for $15.00, with a donation of $1.00 per bag to the Royal Canadian Legion.

The original Royal Gift led to the tulip tradition in Canada's capital and the birth of the Canadian Tulip Festival in 1953. A bright orange tulip with crown-shaped petals, with its name officially registered as the "Liberation75" tulip, it is an early-mid blooming, hearty flower, that displays proud support of the Canadian Armed Forces while honouring the fallen Canadians of the liberation of the Netherlands.

The national commemorative planting campaign is being sponsored and supported by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Along with financial support, KLM is contributing two free airline tickets to the Netherlands which, along with $2,000 cash, will form the Liberation75 Grand Prize. Each bag purchased will create an automatic entry into the lottery.  Buyers who share their planting and blooming pictures online will be awarded extra chances to win. Please see www.liberation75.ca for details.

SOURCE Canadian Tulip Festival