It’s Yates Springtime has begun and we are now half way through our first official week. The early flowering Tulips on Centenary Lawn have been a hit and are already filling Instagram feeds left, right and centre! More early flowering Tulips can be found on the Concourse and by the Roundhouse.
This year the Araluen team and hundreds of volunteers have planted 120,000 Tulips along with thousands of other spring blooms. The team has strategically planted early, mid and late flowering Tulips so that there are plenty in bloom throughout the It’s Yates Springtime Festival.
The first two weeks of the festival are a great opportunity to avoid the crowds in September and see the early flowering Tulips. Araluen has been lucky to get great weather so far and we have our fingers crossed that there is more to come!
Three food vendors traded on the first weekend of the festival, including Unicone, Juice Station, and Mr Goz Gozleme. Vendors are located throughout the Park, primarily on the Concourse. There will be a minimum of two vendors trading on weekdays and a maximum of seven on busy weekends. For more information on where to eat click here.
If you’re looking for a sit down meal head to the Chalet Healy Café. After being closed for several months due to Covid impacts on the hospitality industry, the Café has reopened under new management and features a new menu! If you’re looking for a quick bite to eat or fantastic coffee pop into our new Roundhouse Café. The Roundhouse Café is serving Five Senses Coffee which has been a huge hit with customers and staff! Very soon the Roundhouse will also have plenty of souvenirs available for you to take your memories home with you, stay tuned for updates. Souvenirs can also be found at the Forest View Deck from the Armadale and Perth Hills Visitor Centre pop-up.
The first weekend of It’s Yates Springtime of course came with one or two hiccups as everyone settles in to the festival. Unfortunately our beloved vintage train broke down and had to be suspended for the weekend. Araluen apologises for the disappointment this caused but rest assured, we have our best people on it and the train will be back up and running soon. Our incredibly popular train doesn’t just look vintage, it is vintage. This means it no longer has the capacity it used to have and these situations are unfortunately unavoidable. Araluen is doing everything it can to mitigate this given the age of the train.
We are excited to welcome more entertainment into the Park on weekends in September, when the Freedom Fairies will return with face painting and bubble shows. One-man circus performances will also be on show, and if you listen closely you might even hear the beautiful sounds of a harp around the Park. Scavenger hunt activity packs will also be available at the front entry gate and from the Perth Hills and Armadale Visitor Centre at the Forest View Deck. Our magical fairies, frogs, bees and talking trees are still here via our augmented reality filters, accessible on Facebook Messenger and Instagram through the QR code signs. Scan the QR code with your phone camera, open the filters in Facebook or Instagram, and see the magic unfold before you!
If you’re looking to lock something in, Cabernet & Canvas will be hosting two painting classes in the Amphitheatre on Saturday 17th of September. One for adults, and one for children. The Hike Collective will also be running weekend hiking tours throughout the festival, where hikers will be granted access to areas of Araluen that are not open to the public.
But of course, what really makes It’s Yates Springtime so incredible is the thousands of Tulips and spring blooms on display. This year is the 30th year of It’s Yates Springtime as sponsored by Yates Australia, and we are so grateful to be able to continue to deliver such a unique experience each year to the West Australian community. We hope to see you at the Park and the Araluen team thanks you for your support.
