The Dutch cut tulip season has been officially launched in the Netherlands with National Tulip Day in Amsterdam. On Museumplein, thousands of visitors gathered to pick free tulips from a large temporary picking garden, marking the start of the new season. The event, held annually in the Dutch capital, attracted a broad international audience alongside local visitors.
"It was a beautiful, sunny day with colourful fireworks and a live band. Museumplein was packed with enthusiastic people, all eager to pick 10 free tulips," said Warja Abrosimova. The picking garden contained around 200,000 tulips in a wide range of colours, which were made available to the public after a short opening ceremony. Attendance reached approximately 20,000 people, including many foreign tourists who travelled to the Netherlands specifically for the event.
© VidiPhoto
The start of the tulip season was also celebrated in Belgium. In Antwerp, around 7,100 visitors picked a total of 100,000 Flemish-grown tulips. Visitors were allowed to pick 15 tulips per person, and the picking garden was empty by the late afternoon.
Tulip grower and chairman of TPN, Arjan Smit, looked back positively on the event in Amsterdam. "It remains incredibly special to see so many people enjoying tulips with a big smile. In a world where there is a lot of hardship, National Tulip Day shows how flowers bring people together and create a cheerful, connecting moment."
© VLAMThe picking garden at Opera Square in Antwerp
Filip Fontaine, CEO of VLAM (Flemish Centre for Agro and Fisheries Marketing), highlighted a similar effect. "The picking garden shows what flowers can do. They brighten up the city, but above all the people in it. Receiving flowers makes people visibly happy, and those who give them become, even briefly, a source of happiness themselves."
© Warja Abrosimova
Mark-Jan Terwindt (Royal Anthos), Warja Abrosimova, and Pieter Bootsma (RFH)
According to Abrosimova, many growers, influencers and traders attended the event. Pieter Bootsma, CEO of Royal FloraHolland, was also present and picked flowers for his mother.
© Warja Abrosimova
3 billion tulips
The Netherlands is the world's largest producer of sustainably grown cut tulips. More than 350 Dutch tulip growers collectively produce over three billion tulips each season. Sustainability plays a central role in the sector. Tulip forcing is increasingly carried out in greenhouses without crop protection products, while multi-layer cultivation systems have significantly reduced energy use per tulip over the years. A growing number of companies now operate fully CO₂-neutral. During National Tulip Day, information boards on Museumplein informed visitors about these developments.
© Warja Abrosimova
"We consciously choose transparency towards both the public and critics," said Smit. "Ahead of Tulip Day, we commissioned an independent, certified research institute to take samples from the tulips grown for Museumplein, to provide insight into the sustainability of cut tulip production. The results showed that residue levels were well within the strict standards."
Despite this, Abrosimova noted that a small number of protests took place on the sidelines, with signs reading messages such as 'don't pick poison'. "I responded by saying: 'First take a look inside the greenhouse before spreading nonsense. You don't know what you're talking about.' That's how I see it. Visit a grower's greenhouse and you'll see that cultivation is done sustainably."
© Warja Abrosimova
The protests did not affect the overall atmosphere. "It was a day full of enjoyment and positive energy. Tulips bring people together," Abrosimova said.
© VidiPhoto
Export and international interest
The main export destinations for Dutch cut tulips are Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Poland. Since 2012, National Tulip Day has been celebrated in the Netherlands on the third Saturday of January. International interest in the concept continues to grow, with more countries recognising how the tulip and the creation of urban picking gardens can connect people, not only as an iconic agricultural product but also as a promotional and economic driver.
As a result, Tulip Day-style events are increasingly organised abroad. Picking gardens have been established in Belgium (Antwerp), Germany (Berlin) and the United States (Washington and San Francisco), featuring large displays of colourful tulips.
© VidiPhoto
Official start of the season
With these celebrations, the tulip season has officially begun. Dutch tulips are now widely available in shops and markets across the country. At Royal FloraHolland's auction clocks, tulips have already taken a leading position, accounting for around a quarter of all cut flowers sold and making them the most traded flower at the auction.
Video report Tulip Day Amsterdam 2026
