Tulip Festival, Istanbul

The Tulip Festival is something very special in Turkey and the displays in Istanbul are especially gorgeous. Every April you can enjoy the floral pride of Turkey in most parks, where the government sponsors floral installations and puts special care into creating pieces of art with myriad types of tulips. It is something I look forward to every single year as it immediately makes me happy to see such color and variety in a fresh environment.

Most years, the parks are extremely crowded. People come with their families and friends to picnic and take photos with the flowers. Ultimately, park-goers end up trampling the installations determined to get the best photo in situ. I can totally tolerate some of the crowd abuse every year, but it’s so nice when there aren’t many people around. On the other hand, I love watching the themed photoshoots. For example, one year I caught a wedding shoot and a boy dressed for his sünnet or circumcision ceremony side by side.

During the first year of the pandemic, the parks and public spaces were closed to control the spread of COVID-19. This meant that my yearly pilgrimage to Emirgan Park (where the greatest tulip installations in Istanbul can be found) was in jeopardy. On those lockdown days I went on long walks because as long as you didn’t loiter, walking was a tolerated form of being outside during lockdowns.  I even attempted to get a close look at Emirgan on/out of my way to my friend’s place on day. Of course the park was closed. I talked to the guards at the gate and expressed my jealousy that they had the gorgeous park with all of it’s tulipped beauty to themselves with no one in there to ruin it. They felt bad for my pitiful face and let me come in to snap a shot at the entrance.

Needless to say by April 2021, I was READY to observe the development of my favorite flower and I would follow the season closely to observe as much of the blooming as possible. I went multiple times in April- first I caught the sweet-smelling daffodils, then the first bloom of the tulips, and finally the FULL BLOOM. Keep in mind that the curfew was still continuing to ‘control the spread of COVID, so the parks would close at 7pm.

On the day of the full tulip bloom, I met two of my very good friends at the park around 4:30pm. While waiting for them, I walked around and took as many photos as I could because the bloom was so beautiful and the waves of colors were encouraging endorphins to flow freely, something I really needed at the time. Lockdown was tough for all of us.

While walking and looking at the displays, I came across a family sitting in the installations and the daughter picking the flowers. This pissed me off of course and I cursed them in my head. However, this woman saw them doing the same thing that triggered her own rage, and she started to let the family know of their faux pas. They started arguing with each other and even a security guard came to shut it down. To my dismay, he ushered the woman away from the family and calmed her down but did nothing to deter the family from ruining the garden, even though there were posts about penalties for doing so all around the park. Although nothing of consequence happened to the family, I am thankful that the woman at least said something to expose the family’s rude and inconsiderate behavior.

When my friends arrived, we walked around to view the installations, chatted about our lives a bit. Then, we decided to order our favorite burgers from our favorite restaurant relatively nearby as we couldn’t make it to get them in person in time and they only allowed carry-out anyways. Thanks to Daniel for his great suggestion. The burgers came and we ate happily on some picnic tables at the edge of the park. 

After we finished eating, we realized that the park would close in less than an hour. People were starting to clear out and it was the GOLDEN HOUR. All of the colors around us were popping in the best light of day and the park assumed a calming quiet. Upon this recognition, I started freaking out and couldn’t contain myself as to how I would experience this park in full bloom with literally only a dozen other people in this huge park. 

My friends and I wandered through the installations and took pictures with a full view of these beautiful blossoms. The rest of the flowers that were only budding during the first bloom were now up, open, and full of color. The blocked and bold curations with solid colors juxtaposed with the mixed blooms resembling an Easter basket, I couldn’t get enough. We posed and pranced along the paths for our pictures. Moreover, we were the only people in the photos! IMAGINE THAT. As we continued on, with only the blooms by our sides, I couldn’t contain myself. I started screaming and jumping up and down. Everything was so beautiful I was almost in tears. I kept shouting, “There’s no one here!! We can see everything!!” I started singing random nonsense songs to express my joy and marched the long winding way towards the exit of the park. We stopped every few minutes to take in our scenery and snap more pictures. I felt high, giddy, and relieved. I had waited for this moment for two years and it was finally there. I got my tulips. I was with some of my best friends, and no one else was there to ruin this moment in this golden hour.  

As the restricted world continues to remain unstable, we are unsure when or if we will have our time and space outside controlled. Before the pandemic I took my time outside in the sunshine and my walks through the crowded parks of Istanbul for granted. As it was taken away from us for over a year, I will always remain thankful to experience those moments of pure elation with the things and people who make me the happiest.