In 1945, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands presented Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada, with 100,000 tulip bulbs. The gift was given in appreciation for the safe haven that members of Holland's exiled royal family received in Ottawa during the Second World War and in recognition of the role Canadian troops played in the liberation of the Netherlands.

Within a few years of those first Dutch tulips arriving, they had become a strong attraction and in 1953 at the suggestion of the world-renowned photographer Malak Karsh, one of Ottawa's most famous residents outside of politics, the first Canadian Tulip Festival was launched and has since become one of Ottawa's premier annual events and is claimed to now be the world's largest tulip festival.

Whether it actually is or not is unimportant. What is important, to photographers anyway, is that the festival offers a fabulous array of photo opportunities and while I don't make it to the festival events every year, I do try and below are the galleries of photos I've shot there.