200K flowers coming to NYC for Tulip Day — marking 400th anniversary of Dutch settlers in NY

Union Square pavilion, left. Tulips, right.
Union Square pavilion, left. Tulips, right.

April showers… bring 200,000 flowers?

A temporary field of flowers will be installed in Union Square on “Tulip Day” Sunday — to mark the 400th anniversary of Dutch settlers arriving in New York.

While Tulip Day celebrations have been seen for years in Amsterdam and in San Francisco, it’ll be a first for the Big Apple, according to The New York Times.

You know what they say about April showers… They bring 200,000 flowers to Union Square this Sunday! FREELANCE
You know what they say about April showers… They bring 200,000 flowers to Union Square this Sunday! FREELANCE

The pop-up, which is hosted by Dutch trade association Royal Anthos, will allow visitors to create their own bouquets of 10 tulips each from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the organization’s website.

Advanced tickets have already sold out, but walk-ups will be welcome on a limited basis.

The event is being co-hosted by the European Union and the Netherlands Consulate General of New York.

Jeroen Bours, president of the Netherland Club of New York, which is also helping to organize the event, said he knew it would have to be in full bloom when it came to the city.

“If it’s not big, it’s not New York,” he quipped to the Times.

Ahmed Dadou, the Dutch consul general in New York, said the event was centered on connecting New Yorkers with the Netherlands and to have a conversation about their joint history.

He’s hoping it’ll grow into an annual staple in the Big Apple.

A temporary field of flowers will fill Union Square in honor of Tulip Day, which celebrates the 400th anniversary of Dutch settlers in New York. Getty Images
A temporary field of flowers will fill Union Square in honor of Tulip Day, which celebrates the 400th anniversary of Dutch settlers in New York. Getty Images

“If this could wiggle itself in between there and become a New York tradition, that will be just terrific,” he told the Times.

Tulip Day is just one of the many events the Netherlands Consulate is hosting in honor of the 400th anniversary, which includes a youth program, theater and dance performance, and a two-day conference, which a part of the organization’s Future 400 plan.

The flowers in Union Square will even be shaped into a 400, according to the Times, and a new variety of the bloom — dubbed the Future 400 — will debut at the event.

Dutch settlers came to the metropolitan area in the early 1600s and began living in the colony of New Netherland, which covered parts New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, according to History.com.

The flowers will be shaped into a 400, and a new variety of the flower — dubbed the Future 400 — will debut at the event. Paul Martinka
The flowers will be shaped into a 400, and a new variety of the flower — dubbed the Future 400 — will debut at the event. Paul Martinka

In 1621, the West India Company was created and New Amsterdam and Fort Orange/Beverwijck — modern-day New York City and Albany, respectively — were important trading centers for them, according to the New Amsterdam History Center.

By 1628, nearly 300 European colonists and enslaved Africans built the town of New Amsterdam at the southern tip of Manhattan, which became the capital of New Netherland, according to the Museum of the City of New York.

Nearly 40 years later, New Amsterdam had a population of around 1,500 people who spoke 18 different languages –and it became one of the most diverse places in the world, the museum said.

In the early 1660s, New Amsterdam was passed to English control and it was renamed New York after the Duke of York.

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