MOUNT VERNON — Fields of green are about to become a riot of color in Skagit County. Hundreds of thousands of tourists will drive or ride the country roads between fields — and they will leave millions of dollars behind.

About 300 people gathered Thursday night at McIntyre Hall for the official kickoff of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. They reflected on the festival’s history and honored those who got it started in 1983.

Today, the Tulip Festival is a powerful economic driver for Skagit County.

But the festival was far different when it first started 25 years ago. Jerry Kaufman, who was then a member of the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce, said the idea came about on a retreat to Deer Harbor.

“The Puget Sound has the largest population of people west of Chicago and north of Los Angeles,” Kaufman said. “Every weekend, people are looking for something to do.”

The first year, the festival was a weekend event. The first day was beautiful, Kaufman said. It was about 65 degrees, with a light wind and bright sunshine. Hot-air balloon rides carried visitors aloft to see the tulip fields in their full glory.

The next day, a stiff wind blew the balloons around the valley and almost put one into the Skagit River. On the third day, it rained.

Traffic was a huge problem in the early days, said Audrey Smith, the festival’s first executive director. She said she was hired not to promote the festival, but to organize the chaos.

She said she started the tour bus system and helped promote alternate routes to the tulip fields. Tulips are the harbinger of spring, she said.

“It used to be a big deal when you could get your first bouquet of tulips,” Smith said.

But as the years progressed, so did technology. Greenhouses meant bouquets were available any time of the year.

Lee Mann, who has photographed the tulips for more than 35 years —before there even was a festival — said the fields are less than a third of what they once were.

Leo Roozen of the Washington Bulb Co. said growers have dropped out of the tulip market, but he thinks there is potential for more farmers to benefit from the festival.

“I’d love to see more people in agriculture benefit from this time of year,” Roozen said.

Mann said the festival helps bring money to the county without sacrificing its agricultural heritage.

“The tulip festival and the farmers are responsible for the quality of life we all enjoy,” Mann said.

Blooms could start appearing as early as next week. Ground temperatures have hovered near freezing for the past week. Few tulips braved the weather, and rain mixed with snow has kept the blooms hidden, said Jeanette DeGoede, who owns Tulip Town with her husband, Tom DeGoede.

“Once the ground temperatures hit 45 (degrees), they really start to do something,” she said.

Cindy Verge, the festival’s executive director, said the cool weather has helped ensure that the tulips bloom during the festival month of April.

“Some years when they started blooming on March 25, they don’t last that long,” she said. “This weather means we’ll have tulips for a long time.”

While the festival started humbly with one weekend of events, it grew to last about two weeks before eventually being extended to the full month of April to improve the odds of catching the flowers in bloom.

“It’s grown and developed into the festival we have today,” Verge said.

The salmon barbecue, which will begin Saturday and run through April 20, draws more than 12,000 people, she said, and other events are gaining popularity, such as the garden and art fair in Anacortes on the last weekend of the Tulip Festival.

* Kate Martin can be reached at 360-416-2145 or at .

New and returning festival events

* Meals on Wheels Tour de Fleur: Now a multicounty event. Walk or tour the tulip fields from a bus. The event benefits the Meals on Wheels program across the state. $20. Registration from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday, April 5, at Cascade Mall in Burlington.

* WoodFest: Back after a year’s absence. Student competition in the Sedro-Woolley High School gym showcases woodworking. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 5, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 6.

* Tractor Association National Show: Gas and steam engines, antique machinery and blacksmithing. 8 a.m. to dusk April 11-13 at the Skagit County Fairgrounds. Admission $3, ages 10 and under free.

* Bethany Bells Tulip Festival Concert: A free concert sponsored by Bethany Covenant Church features the church’s adult and children’s choirs and the Bethany Bells. 7 p.m. Saturday, April 19 at 1318 S. 18th St., Mount Vernon</b>