On Saturday, 17 January, the new cut tulip season was festively launched on Museumplein in Amsterdam during Tulip Day. A gigantic picking garden featuring approximately 200,000 tulips in every imaginable colour formed the backdrop. After a short opening ceremony, visitors were invited to pick tulips for free.
© Tulpen Promotie Nederland (TPN)
The theme "United in Bloom" highlighted the connecting power of the tulip. As in previous years, Tulip Day Amsterdam attracted around 20,000 visitors, including many international tourists who travelled to the Netherlands especially for this unique tulip celebration. Tulip grower and TPN Chairman Arjan Smit looks back with satisfaction: "It remains incredibly beautiful to see so many people enjoying tulips with a big smile. In a world where there is so much hardship, Tulip Day shows how flowers bring people together and create a joyful, unifying moment."
© Tulpen Promotie Nederland (TPN)
Sustainability at the core
The Netherlands is the world's largest producer of sustainably grown cut tulips. More than 350 tulip growers are collectively producing over 3 billion tulips this season. Sustainability is a key priority within the Dutch cut tulip sector. Tulip forcers grow their crops in greenhouses without the use of crop protection products and, through multi-layer cultivation, have significantly reduced energy consumption per tulip over the years. A growing number of companies are now producing fully CO₂-neutral.
© Tulpen Promotie Nederland (TPN)
During Tulip Day Amsterdam, information boards on Museumplein informed visitors about these sustainable developments. Smit: "We consciously choose transparency towards the public and critics. That is why, ahead of Tulip Day, we commissioned an independent, certified research agency to take samples from the tulips at Museumplein to make the sustainability progress in cut tulip production tangible. The results showed that residue levels on the tulips were well within the strict standards."
© Tulpen Promotie Nederland (TPN)
Export
The most important export markets for Dutch cut tulips are Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Poland. Since 2012, the Netherlands have celebrated Tulip Day on the third Saturday of January. International interest is also growing. More and more countries are discovering how the tulip and the creation of a picking garden act as a connector of people in cities – not only as an iconic agricultural product, but also as a powerful promotional tool and economic driver. As a result, the popularity of Tulip Day is also increasing beyond national borders. This year, colourful tulip picking gardens will also be created in Belgium (17 January, Antwerp), Germany (14 March, Berlin) and the United States (14 March, Washington and 21 March, San Francisco).
For more information:
Tulpen Promotie Nederland (TPN)
www.tulpenpromotie.nl
