With over 15,000 tickets sold in the span of 15 minutes, the second Tulip Day to ever take place in New York City has kicked off the spring celebrations in Union Square. 

On Sunday, March 30, Union Square transformed into a sea of colors as thousands of New Yorkers gathered to celebrate Tulip Day for the second year in a row. Hosted by Royal Anthos, the Dutch Royal Trade association for Flower Bulbs and Nursery Stock, the event invited thousands of New Yorkers to pick their own tulips straight from the soil, free of charge. 

By mid-morning, Union Square was buzzing with anticipation. Although the sky was covered with a grey fog, the vivid tulips and beaming faces seemed to brighten the day, making the dreariness an afterthought. 

“The day has been spectacular. You can’t imagine a nicer event with everybody smiling,” said Werner Jansen, CEO of Bloomy. 

The event is a testament to the way simple gestures — like giving people a chance to take home fresh flowers for free — can create a ripple effect of happiness. 

The enthusiasm for the event was undeniable from the early morning hours. “We had people here when we started building up at 6 a.m. this morning. People were already lining up at 7 o’clock even though the event didn’t open until 11:30,” Jansen shared. “People were waiting here for three, four hours, and they were just perfectly fine.” 

Beyond the floral spectacle, the event served as a moment of community connection. 

“We refer to flowers as spreading joy,” Jansen said. “People refer to this as the beginning of spring and as a very joyful moment. The nice thing you will notice later on walking through downtown, everywhere you see suddenly people popping up with flowers.”

That joy spilled beyond the confines of Union Square. As the afternoon wore on, the city itself seemed to bloom. Strangers exchanged smiles over their bouquets as the streets and subway cars filled with bursts of color. 

At the event, the tulips are given away with their bulbs still attached, allowing people to plant them and enjoy their beauty beyond a single day. Amy Zheng, an attendee waiting in line, shared that this is one of the major reasons she wanted to attend, “especially after missing it last year,” she mentioned. “But also these tulips still have their bulbs on them, which is really why I’m here, [because] you can plant them.” 

From strollers to subway stations, the tulips made their way across the city, turning an ordinary Sunday into something extraordinary. As the event wrapped up at 4 p.m., thousands left with bouquets in hand and the spirit of spring in full bloom.