Ready or not, here comes the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

The Mount Vernon Kiwanis are firing up the grill for their annual salmon barbecue, which starts this Saturday, April 1.

The four local flower venues are standing by. The Roozengaarde staff are ready to guide visitors to the display garden, five tulip fields (featuring a million bulbs!) and parking.

Tulip Town's Opening Weekend is all about dogs. The Seattle Barkery will offer a dog treat bar, photographer John Melicor will take portraits of dogs and their owners and a dog photo contest will select the best dog-in-the-tulip-fields shot.

Locals Night, a tradition started many years ago by Tom and Jeanette DeGoede, will take place April 12 from 5-7 p.m., said CEO Kristin Keltz.

A cheery miniature windmill dominates the displays at Garden Rosalyn on Jungquist Road. Owner Ernesto Mendoza, who has designed beds in the shape of eagles, ducks and tulips, promises a taco truck and other refreshments will be on hand for hungry visitors.

He is proud that people from New York, Texas, Florida and California visited his display garden last year and looks forward to more out-of-state visitors this year. Dogs and drones are welcome.

Six calves recently arrived at Tulip Valley Farms. They are for "cow cuddling" – a hands-on experience that psychiatrists in the Netherlands prescribe an antidepressant, according to founder and owner Andrew Miller. Buy a ticket to cuddle or feed them and perhaps your serotonin levels will rise.

New this year, Tulip Valley Farms has 12 acres of tulips interplanted with hazelnut trees on Bradshaw Road, directly across from Tulip Town. A second location on Pulver Road features three acres of tulips.

Many are a blend of yellow and white bulbs Tulip Valley is calling "Ethan's Smile" in honor of Ethan Chapin, the Mount Vernon High School graduate and University of Idaho student killed last year in his off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho.

You can tour the fields by night at the Bradshaw Road location. Rows of Edison lights, some step-on lights and projectors will be "super cool," said Miller. "All the fun things you can do at night with light in a tulip field we're going to try except lasers, which require approval from the Federal Aviation Administration."

From Tulip Festival director Cindy Verge's point of view, the Festival is already going well. About 200 people participated in last Saturday's Tulip Gala at the Swinomish Casino, the first face-to-face gala in three years. The free Open House at the PACCAR Technical Center on Farm to Market Road is also back on the calendar after a three-year hiatus.

"This is a really good time to get people to come back to these events, because we had to forego so much the last few years," she said.

Verge is pleased that 15 entrants have already signed up for La Conner's April 8 Impromptu Tulip Parade, including the beautifully adorned steeds and riders of the Latino Horse Club. She is also excited about the new Festival Passport, a phone-based program that helps visitors "go out and find hidden gems in our valley." Passport holders can use the points they earn for visiting county venues to enter a drawing or purchase merchandise. Not coincidentally they will also give the Festival, along with the new Skagit Tourism Bureau, hard data on where visitors come from and what choices they make.

If you see a tour bus, there might be a couple of Skagit County Master Gardeners on board. Before the pandemic, the gardeners routinely boarded tour buses at the Display Gardens on Memorial Highway. One helps out-of-area bus drivers navigate tulip gridlock. The other talks about the history of tulip cultivation, the festival, waterfowl migrations, seeds, farm products – "an overview of the valley," said Master Gardener and bus tour coordinator Elaine Richards.

Six groups are expected this year. On April 17, two big Canadian buses from Okanogan and Victoria will roll up at the same time.

A grant from Skagit County helps the Master Gardeners cover the cost of their work. "Tours are a big part of our outreach to visitors," said Richards.

The big question is, are the tulips ready for the Festival after so many chilly weeks?

Maybe. Maybe not.

While Jumbo Pink tulips are just peeking out in Washington Bulb Company fields on Best Road, the Roozengaarde website advises visitors to come mid-April for the best color.

Tulip Valley Farms isn't taking chances. On opening weekend, they will give visitors a complimentary bouquet.

"There will be color everywhere they go, but they have to carry it with them!" said Miller.