Every year, a Tulip Testival in Morges, Switzerland, celebrates the return of spring.

A hundred thousand tulips form brightly colored banks in the Parc de l’Indépendance, and Floralies, which presents 400 iris varieties, is held in May at Vuillerens Castle. In summer, the dahlia quay brightens up the shore of Lake Geneva.

With exact dates dependent on blooming times, the tulip fest begins sometime in April and runs through sometime in May — six weeks in total.

There’s no admission charge for the fest, which includes 100,000 tulips of 300 varieties. Small weekend concerts are regularly organized at the music kiosk.

The festival began in 1971 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Lake Geneva Horticultural Society. The horticulture apprentices of the Morges Centre for Professional Studies create the floral displays.

Parc de l’Indépendance itself commemorates 1898, the date of the independence of the Lake Geneva Region. For more information on visiting the area, check out Morges Région Tourisme.

(Photo courtesy of Office du Tourisme du Canton de Vaud)