May 2010 we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Tulip Time Festival!
Join the family fun as Pella attempts to set a Guinness World Record for people dancing in wooden shoes. Registration form is at the bottom of this page. Also check out the instructional video and commemorative t-shirts. Registration for the wooden shoe dance will be cut off at midnight April 30. Anyone who wished to participate and did not register is welcome to come but will not be counted in the world record.
Plan now to be a part of the excitement on Saturday morning May 8, 2010 at 10:30. Plan to line up by 10:00. Bring your family-grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, children and grandchildren. Participate as a family reunion group. Encourage your relatives and friends to return to Pella and be part of the action. Wear a Dutch costume if you have one. If you don't have a costume come anyway. WOODEN SHOES ARE REQUIRED! Show your Dutch heritage and if you don't have Dutch heritage, come for the fun as we gather around the Pella city square and dance one Dutch dances. One simple dance will be taught throughout the coming year and prior to setting the record in May 8, 2010. The current world record is 475 dancers. Pella's goal? over 1000 dancers!
Got wooden shoes? Time to purchase a pair or dust off your old ones.
Check out the You Tube Video for a demonstration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igNU1XqOzd8
Events throughout the year include a wooden shoe decorating competition and exhibit.
Join the fun! Whether you are Dutch or not, help set a world record and enjoy wearing wooden shoes.
Shoes are available for purchase at Pella Historical Village museum gift shop, Hometown Variety, De Pelikaan Dutch Imports, and Straver's Hardware. They will give you the secret to wearing wooden shoes comfortably.
The Pella Tulip Time Commemorative Dutch Dancing T-shirt was developed for you and your family to have a piece of HISTORY. Use the ease and convenience of this on line store to purchase a historic signature clothing item.
http://www.tig2estore.com/gotshoes Shirts will be available to pick up with your registration packet during Tulip Time. The cost per shirt is only $10 when preordered. A very limited number of t-shirts will be available during festival, don't wait to get yours, order today!
Welcome to all registrants who are going to be participating in the Guinness World RecordTM setting Dutch dance in wooden shoes on Saturday morning May 8 in Pella.
We hope you will enjoy being part of the fun.
1. All participants in the dance must have registered on the pellatuliptime.com website or in person at the Interpretive Center in the Historical Village by April 30.
2. A packet with information and your pin-on bib (pins come with the bib) with your assigned number will be prepared for you and must be picked up prior to 10am Saturday morning.
3. On Thursday and Friday of Tulip Time there will be check-in tables on the north side of the big Vermeer Windmill at the corner of the Historical Village on Franklin St. and East First Street. Look for the large banner that says “Check-In for the Guinness World Record of Dutch dancing in wooden shoes”. Check-in times on Thursday and Friday will be from 9am to 6pm both days. Each participant must check-in and sign the log book that will be sent to Guinness to verify that you have participated in the dance. A witness will also sign behind your name indicating that you have checked in for the dance. Do Not lose your bib with your assigned number. You will not be provided with a replacement bib. You will pin that bib to your clothing on your chest on Saturday morning of Tulip Time.
4. We ask that all dancers who live in the immediate area or who are in Pella on Thursday or Friday of Tulip Time to please check-in on Thursday or Friday so we are not swamped with dancers checking in on Saturday morning when our time is limited to two hours for check-in.
5. If you live away from Pella and are coming in on Saturday morning, May 8, we suggest you start for Pella early as many people will try to arrive in Pella at the same time for the dance. If you are coming from the west and driving east on Hwy 163 and Exit 40 is backed up, go further east to Exit 42 or Exit 44 even further east. Parking is available off Exit 44 at the Vermeer Mfg site. Follow the signs. A shuttle will be running from Vermeer Mfg. to take you into Pella.
6. Saturday morning check-in will be on the Tulip Tower in front of the grandstands in downtown Pella from 8am-10am.
7. On Saturday morning everyone will congregate in their wooden shoes on Franklin Street in the block with the Tulip Tower or on the west side of the town square which is Broadway Street. At approximately 10:15am the announcer will give instruction over the public address system to follow the people in orange “EVENT STAFF” t-shirts as they lead the dancers on to Main Street going east and on to Washington Street going north from Broadway until the dancers are spread out around the city square. The Event Staff monitors in orange t-shirts will guide you to line up with your partner along the traffic line in the center of the street. It will be necessary to form a second parallel line of dancers with their partners where the dancers need more dancing room. A helicopter will be flying overhead taking a video of the dance so we need orderly parallel lines. AND, we need the crowd along the curb to stay back from the dancers and on the curb in order for the video photographer to get a clear shot of the dancers from the helicopter.
8. We will run through the dance several times for those who need a little practice. Dancers in orange EVENT STAFF t-shirts will be visible if you need to see how the dance is executed.
We suggest you watch the YOU TUBE instructional video “Dutch Dance Training” if you are unsure
of the steps to the dance. The dance is very simple. Go to pellatuliptime.com to find the YouTube link.
9. At 10:30 an air horn will blow and the dance will begin with a short introduction. The dance will
go for 5 minutes. When the required 5 minutes has passed, the air horn will sound again to let
you know the dance is finished.
10. When the dance finishes you MUST report to one of the monitors in an orange EVENT STAFF t-shirt
and give the tear-off portion on the bottom of your numbered bib to a monitor.
This is the verification that you actually danced.
Congratulations, you have just helped set a Guinness World RecordTM of dancing in wooden shoes!
For much more on the Historical Village, please see the Historical Village section of this site.
Sponsored by the Pella Historical Society