Stunning field of nine million tulips helping to bring back world-famous Spalding Flower Festival
Rob Setchell spent a day at a tulip field in Norfolk, where flower-pickers are racing against the clock to harvest a million tulips for a colourful festival.
Volunteers can be seen busy harvesting flowers in a massive tulip field - their aim is to pick around a million flowers for a world-famous flower parade which is making a comeback.
The breathtaking display of around 9.2 million tulips lies in a quiet corner of west Norfolk, near King's Lynn.
Volunteers are picking against the clock, hoping to complete the most colourful harvest while the sun shines.
The flowers will be used to decorate floats for the Spalding Festival on Saturday - an annual parade that drew thousands of visitors across the globe before its funding was cut a decade ago.
Mark Eves has been growing tulips for over 20 years.
For the last three, he has raised tens of thousands of pounds for the nearby Tapping House Hospice - by selling tickets to see his colourful crop.
He said: "Millions of people used to turn up just to go round the tulip fields of Spalding and the Lincolnshire area.
"Unfortunately I'm the only one left who's actually growing on a commercial scale. It's a pleasure to share that again and to be supporting the parade is absolutely brilliant."
Organiser Stephen Timewell remembered the days when Spalding was known worldwide for its flower parade.
"Everybody was complaining on social media as they do that nothing ever happens in their town - especially Spalding," he said.
"They said we should never have lost the flower parade [and asked] why don't we have the flower parade back. I said, a bit tongue in cheek, 'OK, I'll do that'. It went viral and the rest is history.
"I couldn't get out of it. If I could get a million today, I'd be very happy. And if everyone goes home with a smile it's even better."
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