Spring is officially in the air: the patio door is open, the breeze feels warm, the sun is delaying its daily goodbye, life is thawing, and flowers are blossoming! Last year around this time, I attended my very first flower festival with my mom, niece, sister-in-law, and her sister & mom. We had a fantastic ladies day out enjoying the seasonal beauty of our home state. After such a lovely day, I started wondering where else in the US you could go to a State Flower Festival. I researched every single state flower and scoured the internet for any signs of a festival in its honor. Here’s what I found!
- The 15 states with a State Flower Festival: Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia. Bonus: Washington DC!
- The states where you have to visit a National Park to see the state flower: Arizona, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
- These flowers are state flowers for more than one state: rose (6 states), apple blossom (2), magnolia (2), mountain laurel (2), violet (3), rhododendron (2).
In Alabama, you can go to the Greenville Camellia Show every February.
In California, you can check out the poppies at the California Poppy Festival in Lancaster every April.
In Colorado every July, you can attend the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival.
In Georgia, the Thomasville Rose Show and Festival is on each April.
In Indiana, visit Noblesville in May for a peony-filled day at the Indiana Peony Festival (the fest that inspired this post, see some photos from it below).
In Iowa, you can smell the roses at the State Center Rose Festival every year in June.
In Kansas from August to September, you can go to the Kansas Maze Sunflower Festival in Buhler.
In North Carolina, the Farmville Dogwood Festival is held each April.
In Ohio, you’ll have to wait until August to attend the Greater Alliance Carnation Festival.
In Oklahoma (another rose state), the Broken Arrow Rose Festival takes place at the end of September.
In Pennsylvania, there’s a fair and a pageant mid-June at the PA State Laurel Festival.
In Tennessee, visit Dresden in early May for the TN Iris Festival.
In Texas, the Bluebonnet Festival is thrown every April with a focus on live music.
In Washington, admire the coast rhododendrons each May at the Rhody Festival in Port Townsend.
In West Virginia (also each May for the same flower), you have the Rhododendron Fest in Beckley.
And of course, in Washington DC, there’s the famous National Cherry Blossom Festival each spring! My best friend is a photographer in the area and has gorgeous shots of the cherry blossoms on her Instagram–definitely check it out 🙂
If you were curious about the states where you can only see their flower at a National Park: Arizona’s saguaro cactus blossom is too fleeting for an event. They open in May and then close within 24 hours! Visit Saguaro National Park to try your luck. Wyoming’s Indian paintbrush can be seen at Grand Tetons National Park. And New Mexico’s yucca flower is located in White Sands National Park. I visited New Mexico (and that national park) last fall, and I think I saw the state flower without realizing!
Flower Fotos (I unintentionally did so many bloom-inspired trips in 2024!):
So there you have it! I had so much fun working on this one, basking in the energy of spring. I hope you feel inspired to spend a day (or season) appreciating your own state flower, whether or not there’s an official festival for it. I definitely have more peony decor in my home now haha. Or maybe you’re traveling to one of the states during their flower festival. Attending a local fest during your visit would make for such a memorable day! Happy Spring everyone 🙂