Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Via AP news wire

Tulips for Amsterdam: Growers hand out free flowers

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

As stores in Amsterdam and across the Netherlands cautiously reopened after weeks of being under a coronavirus lockdown, the Dutch capital's mood was lightened further Saturday by dashes of color from thousands of free bunches of tulips being handed out.

National Tulip Day is usually marked by an improvised flower garden in front of the royal palace on the capital's central Dam Square. But with pandemic lockdown measures continuing to restrict large public gatherings, organizers this year took to Amsterdam's World Heritage-listed canals to hand out their flowers.

The event is held each year to celebrate the start of the growing season for the iconic flowers, a major export for Dutch farmers.

“It is a gloomy and uncertain time for many people with the ongoing pandemic," Arjan Smit, chairman of Tulip Promotion Netherlands, an association of hundreds of Dutch growers. "So we’re going to provide some joy. We hope to create many happy faces by handing out tulip bouquets.”

Dutch flower and plant auctioneer Royal FloraHolland had record sales in 2021 of 5.6 billion euros ($6.4 billlion) thanks to higher prices for plants and cut flowers.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.