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Orange
City
is a small city of 5.500 people in the north-west of Iowa. The
town was founded in 1870 by Dutch settlers, Henry Hospers was
their leader. From 1834 Dutch immigrants left The Netherlands
in waves because of religious oppression and a bad economy.
From
the first half of the 19th century a new religion called 'de
Afgescheidenen' or Calvinist arose. The Netherlands was governed
by king Willem I, who only recognized the Protestant religion,
the Calvinist considered this in violation of the religious
liberty, established under king Willem of Orange. The economy
was in a bad shape, the country was at war with France and the
potato harvest was spoiled, people suffered from cholera. America
was seen as the only country with enough space and freedom to
start a new life.
At
the start of the twenties century people of Orange Town were
afraid that they would loose their ties with The Netherlands
and they decided to have a Tulip festival every year in spring
time to honor their roots.
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The
festival was first held back in 1936, now it is a
three days festival with more than 150.000 visitors.
A thousand volunteers are walking around in 19th century
costumes and dance through the streets on their wooden
shoes. In the background are houses with step gable
fronts, you can smell a mix of hamburgers and typical
Dutch 'poffertjes' in the streets.
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