The Southern Highlands is loved for many things and Bowral has many claims to fame. In Spring, Corbett Gardens, in the heart of the town, holds the annual Tulip Time Festival which transforms the park into a blanket of colour. This year marks 60 Years since it first began.
The Park was established in 1914 and is named after Ada Corbett, a woman who campaigned furiously for the land’s transformation in the hope to brighten the Bowral community. We think she succeeded. The local rotary club donated 500 tulip bulbs in 1961, marking the first Tulip Time and from then it has become something of an annual pilgrimage. This year, they will have planted over seventy-five thousand bulbs and another three thousand throughout the Shire.
It’s a perfect day trip, there a tonne of food offerings, coffee spots and a main street of Bowral to explore such as Dirty Janes, The Press Shop serving Gabrielle Coffee, local gem Gumnut Patisserie. Stop along the way as you make your way to Bowral as each town will have something to offer. It’s about the journey and the destination in this case. Heading down to Bowral, spend some time in Mittagong. Stop off at the Boston 107 for a Campos Coffee or Hendriks Cognac & Wine for a drink. Expect an overload of colour if you get to see the tulips in full bloom.
Corbett Gardens are in the heart of Bowral, surrounded by Merrigang, Bendooley and Wingcaribee Streets. Tulip Time is the perfect occasion to jump into Spring but be ready for four seasons in one day, it is the Highlands after all. The festival is on between September 17th to October 4th this year and is a ticketed event. If you don’t make it this spring put it on your bucket list for next year.