Crowds flock to pick Amsterdam's 200,000 free tulips

Thousands gathered at Amsterdam’s Museumplein on National Tulip Day to pick from 200,000 free flowers, marking the start of the Dutch tulip season.

Reuters

18 January 2026 at 13:32:00

People hold tulips during a visit to a picking garden with over 200,000 tulips that has been created on the Museumplein for National Tulip Day where everyone can pick one bunch for free in Amsterdam, Netherlands January 17, 2026.

Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters

It's a festive kickoff to the Dutch tulip season, even though it's still winter.

Thousands of people flocked to Amsterdam's Museumplein square on Saturday (January 17) to celebrate 'National Tulip Day' with a free pick-your-own garden.

Dutch tulip growers, who gave away 200,000 flowers, organized the event to mark the start of the selling season for cut tulips.

Each visitor was allowed to pick 10 tulips for free, although many picked more than their share.

The Netherlands is the world’s largest producer of cut tulips and produced 2 million stems in 2025, according to organisers.

Production: Yiming Woo/Reuters