THE 11th annual North Berwick Tulip Festival has started, with 40 varieties planted across the town.

The event, organised by North Berwick in Bloom, saw the planting of tulips last November at 15 sites across the town and they have now begun to flower.

North Berwick in Bloom is taking part in Britain in Bloom this year.

The different varieties will all flower at different times, with some having done so in March, some in April and more that will not flower until next month, giving the town a changing spectrum of colour over the spring.

Tulips have been spread out across North Berwick to encourage people to get out on walks and explore the different varieties.

East Lothian Courier: A tulip festival is taking place in North Berwick

Libby Morris, chairwoman of North Berwick in Bloom, said: “[The festival] was started because there is such a wide variety of tulips and they grow so well in North Berwick, they look beautiful, and it was a way to show people all the varieties.

“We’ve been planting usually about 40 different kinds of tulips around the town every year.

“It’s to encourage people to get out and about in the town, and an excuse for people to go for a different kind of a walk.

East Lothian Courier: A tulip festival is taking place in North Berwick

“There’s some tulips that appear every year and some that we plant, and then, when we finish with them, we always dig them up in May and give them away in exchange for donations so we can buy more tulips for next year.”

A map of the ‘tulip trail’ can be picked up from the train station and the town’s library.