The In 1994, the Canadian Tulip Festival paid “Tribute to the Origin Country of the Tulip – Turkey” and began a 12 year partnership with the Turkish community by having the Turkish Pavilion as part of the International Tulip Friendship Village in Major’s Hill Park during the Festival.
In 1995, Princess Margriet of the Netherlands returned to Ottawa to officially open the Festival, celebrating the good relations between her country and Canada through the twin themes of "The Friendship That Flowered" and the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Holland. The Dutch Pavilion is a highlight of the Friendship Village each year. In 1996, the Festival paid Floral Tribute to Nice, France and its “Bataille de fleurs,” one of the world’s oldest floral celebrations. This year, Nice and the “Bataille de fleurs” will be featured at the Tulip Explosion Floral Rendezvous at the Hilton and Casino du Lac-Leamy.  The Canadian Tulip Festival celebrated the Floral Artistry of Japan in 1997 with a spotlight on the Festival's friendship partner, the Tonami Tulip Fair. Since then the Japanese Pavilion has been a focal point in the International Friendship Village. “Between Friends," a celebration of the unique friendship between the United States and Canada, saw the 1999 Festival twinning with the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.  In 2001, we celebrated “Tulips Forever! A salute to Britain,” focusing on Britain's tulip history and world-renowned gardens. It featured a Tulip Twinning Ceremony with the Spalding Flower Parade, Britain's largest tulip festival.  The 2003 edition of the Canadian Tulip Festival celebrated Australia's tulips and its tulip festival - Canberra's Floriade with the theme "Tulips Down Under - G'day Australia."  The nurturing of international friendship continues in 2005 with a special “Friendship Weekend” May 21 – 23, which will see Austrian Pavilion join the Friendship Village and the other current Friendship Countries hosting other countries and cultures in a celebration of Peace and Friendship. The Dutch will host the Germans, the Turks will host Hungary and the Japanese will host Ottawa Asian Heritage Month Society.  The Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the Liberation of Holland and the celebration of the Gift of Tulips will see a visit by Princess Margriet to the Canadian Tulip Festival. The Princess will help launch Tulips 2005, the 60th Anniversary Friendship Tour, which will see a Stage Bus tour Canada all summer, featuring Dutch jazz group Luluk Purwanto & the Helsdingen Trio, and the distribution of 750-bulb Tulip Friendship Gardens to 76 communities across Canada, donated by the Dutch Bulb Exporters.  The International Peace Garden is another legacy derived from the powerful story of friendship between Canada and the Netherlands. In 1990, the Canadian Tulip Festival and Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority offered Washington, D.C., a garden of  “Ottawa” tulips as a gesture of friendship between our two countries.  Washington, D.C. was so impressed that they offered Warsaw a garden of “Ottawa” tulips for Poland’s achievement of democracy.  Since then, the Peace Garden of “Ottawa” tulips has been passed on from capital to capital every year as a sign of peace and friendship. In 2005, the Peace Garden is being given to Nicosia, Cyprus by Athens, Greece.  Not content to sit on its international laurels, the 2006 Canadian Tulip Festival, from May 4 – 22, will host the World Floral Council Summit in Gatineau with over 700 delegates from over 30 countries designing floral displays as part of Tulip Explosion.