What Burnside Farms does

Burnside Farms is a privately held, family-operated seasonal flower farm headquartered in Nokesville, Virginia, that has grown from a single half-acre experimental tulip planting in 2011 into a nationally recognized agritourism destination. The business operates two recurring seasonal events: the Festival of Spring (late March through mid-April, featuring more than 2 million tulips and daffodils across 20 acres with 200+ tulip varieties and 30+ daffodil varieties) and the Summer of Sunflowers (mid-July through mid-August, spanning 78 acres with 30+ cutting sunflower varieties and oil sunflowers). Operations are anchored by the Dawley family across three working generations — Leslie Dawley (founder and third-generation farmer), her son Michael Dawley, and Michael's wife Jess Dawley, who joined full-time in February 2025 after a two-decade corporate career — with fifth-generation children being prepared to continue the legacy.

The company's commercial model is dual-pronged. The on-farm event layer sells timed-entry admission tickets exclusively online (no gate sales) for $15-$31 per visit depending on season, day of week, and time slot, with revenue supplemented by pick-your-own flower sales ($1/stem tulips, $1.50/stem sunflowers), food trucks on weekends, beverages, vases, and ancillary activities (wagon rides, playground, photography, special events such as Foamy Fridays and Concert Saturdays), all managed through Ticketspice and Webconnex. Annual Passports ($65-$130, sold out for 2026; Plus tier up to $170) provide unlimited cross-season access with perks. The e-commerce layer is the Bulb Shop, which imports premium 12+cm Dutch tulip bulbs from growers in the De Zilk region of South Holland and ships 25-packs ($23.95) and 100-packs ($75.50) nationwide each fall for residential planting, with a Mailchimp-driven mailing list used to drive ticket and shop releases.

Brand and intellectual property include three registered trademarks (Summer of Sunflowers, Sunflower Sunsets, Flowers for the Soul), an exclusive licensed distribution arrangement with Colorblends for branded curated bulb blends (including Big Ups), and earned media coverage in Southern Living (March 2026), Martha Stewart, Country Living, National Geographic Travel, Washington Post, and Bravo TV. The farm is bootstrapped and family-financed with no institutional investors disclosed; land is leased rather than owned (approximately 120 acres of a 270-acre property) following a 2018 relocation from the Haymarket area after the prior sites were sold for housing development.

Name

Burnside Farms

Legal name

Burnside Farms

Website

https://burnsidefarms.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Burnside Farms is a family-operated seasonal flower farm in Nokesville, Virginia, running the Festival of Spring and Summer of Sunflowers pick-your-own festivals, plus an online Bulb Shop shipping premium Dutch tulip bulbs nationwide to visitors and home gardeners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agritourism and Flower Farm

NAICS

Floriculture Production (111422), Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production (1114), Nursery and Floriculture Production (11142), Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Retailers (444240)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Greenhouse Floriculture (Cut Flowers) (AFAGAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Potted Flowering Plants & Bedding Plants Production (Annuals, Perennials, Plugs) (AFAGAHAE)

Keywords

• Pick-your-own flowers
• Tulip bulb sales
• Agritourism festivals
• Sunflower field events
• Flower farm visits

Headquarters

HQ city

Nokesville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Festival of Spring Admission Tickets: Ticketed entry to the spring tulip and daffodil festival. Tickets range from $19.50-$31 depending on day of week and timing (advance vs. day-of). Includes 5 flower stems per ticket. Season runs approximately 3 weeks in late March through mid-April.
2. Summer of Sunflowers Admission Tickets: Ticketed entry to the summer sunflower event. Tickets range from $15-$18.50 depending on time slot and day. Morning sessions, sunset sessions, and special events (Foamy Fridays, concerts). Includes 3 sunflower stems per ticket.
3. Annual Passport: Unlimited visit pass for both spring and summer seasons. Includes perks: free preview events, 5 stems per visit in spring, 3 stems per visit in summer, 10% off on-farm purchases. Prices $65-$130 depending on purchase timing and whether Plus tier (includes guest admission).
4. Flower Stem Sales: Pick-your-own flower sales during farm visits. Tulips $1 per stem, daffodils 2 for $1, sunflowers $1.50 per stem (3 included with summer admission). Additional flowers can be pre-purchased online at discounted rates up to 44% off.
5. Tulip Bulb E-commerce: Online sales of premium tulip bulbs imported from the Netherlands. Bulbs sold in packages of 25 ($23.95) or 100 ($75.50). Orders ship in fall for planting. Flat rate shipping $9 or free on-farm pickup.
6. On-Farm Retail & Activities: Revenue from food trucks, beverages, vases and containers, and included activities (wagon rides, playground, games). Food trucks are present on weekends during sunset hours.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Burnside Farms is a family-operated flower farm that hosts two seasonal pick-your-own festivals — the Festival of Spring (tulips and daffodils across 20 acres in late March through mid-April) and the Summer of Sunflowers (sunflowers across 78 acres in mid-July through mid-August) — and sells premium Dutch tulip bulbs online through its Bulb Shop for fall planting nationwide.

Product overview

Burnside Farms is a family-run flower farm operating two seasonal festivals: the Festival of Spring (pick-your-own tulips and daffodils) and the Summer of Sunflowers (pick-your-own sunflowers). The company also operates an e-commerce Bulb Shop selling premium Dutch tulip bulbs, and offers Annual Passports for unlimited access to both seasons. The farm provides on-site activities including wagon rides, playgrounds, and picnic areas, with professional photography permitted in the fields. All visitor experiences require pre-purchased timed-entry tickets, managed through third-party ticketing platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Festival of Spring: The annual spring tulip and daffodil festival featuring over 2 million flowers across 20 acres, with pick-your-own experiences, wagon rides, and photo opportunities. Running since 2012.
• Summer of Sunflowers
• Sunflower Sunsets
• Flowers for the Soul
• Bulb Shop

Products and services

• Festival of Spring Annual pick-your-own tulip and daffodil festival held in Nokesville, VA, featuring more than 2 million flowers and over 200 tulip varieties plus 30+ daffodil varieties across 20 acres. Timed-entry tickets include 5 flower stems per admission.
• Summer of Sunflowers Annual pick-your-own sunflower festival spanning 78 acres featuring 30+ cutting sunflower varieties and oil sunflowers, with Sunflower Sunsets evening events, Foamy Fridays, a concert series, sunflower mazes, and a tulip-and-sunflower-themed playground. Timed-entry tickets include 3 sunflower stems per admission.
• Bulb Shop

Quantifiable outcome

• Festival of Spring has operated annually since 2012, making it one of the longest-running spring festivals of its kind in North America
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Colorblends®minorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerBurnside Farms is an exclusive licensed distributor of Colorblends® branded tulip bulb blends, including the Big Ups® Premium Tulip Blend. These are professionally curated color-coordinated blends designed by color specialists at Colorblends, sold alongside Burnside's own varieties.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Holland Ridge Farms: Cream Ridge, NJ tulip and sunflower festival operator running a near-identical pick-your-own, timed-ticket model with similar media-driven marketing. The closest like-for-like competitor to Burnside's Festival of Spring and Summer of Sunflowers on the U.S. East Coast.
• Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm: Woodburn, Oregon operator of the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival and a bulb e-commerce retail arm. Comparable because it pairs large-scale Dutch-sourced tulip bloom fields with a ticketed festival format and online bulb sales, mirroring Burnside's combined agritourism + Bulb Shop model.
• RoozenGaarde / Washington Bulb Company: Skagit Valley, WA grower-festival hybrid combining large-scale tulip and daffodil field displays with a bulb retail business (tulips.com). Same combined production + public-facing festival + bulb retail model as Burnside Farms.
• Alstede Farms: Chester, NJ pick-your-own farm with seasonal flower events, CSA, and on-farm retail. Comparable multi-season agritourism operator on the Mid-Atlantic / Northeast corridor with a similar family-farm + ticketed-events go-to-market.
• Terhune Orchards: Princeton, NJ family-owned pick-your-own farm with seasonal festivals, farm store, and on-farm events. Comparable family-operated Mid-Atlantic agritourism business running ticketed seasonal experiences.
• Tulip Town: Mount Vernon, WA Skagit Valley tulip festival with ticketed fields and bloom viewing. Directly comparable ticketed tulip-viewing experience to Burnside's Festival of Spring, anchored in a major regional bloom destination.
• Great Country Farms: Bluemont, Virginia pick-your-own and seasonal festival farm in the same Northern Virginia / DC-adjacent catchment as Burnside. Regional peer competing for the same drive-in visitor audience with seasonal events.

Others

• Colorblends: Wholesale Dutch tulip bulb supplier and blend designer that is already a partner of Burnside Farms (exclusive Big Ups® blend distributor). Comparable as the upstream supplier enabling Burnside's premium bulb offering, and a potential extension point for retail or licensing growth.

Broad incumbents

• Lyman Orchards: Middlefield, CT multi-generational farm with pick-your-own fruit, seasonal events, farm store, and golf. Comparable as a larger, more diversified family farm running seasonal agritourism experiences in the Northeast.

Regional players

• Liberty Mills Farm: Orange, Virginia agritourism farm running seasonal events (sunflower, pumpkin, corn maze). Same Virginia geography and seasonal-event model as Burnside, serving the same drive market with a different crop mix.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/burnsidefarms
• Instagraminstagram.com/burnsidefarms
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/burnside-farms

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Burnside Farms