National Tulip Day

January 20, 2017

This outstanding celebration of the famous Dutch flower kick starts tulip season in Holland. The main event is in Dam Square, where 200,000 bulbs will be particularly placed in order to create a temporary ‘picking garden’.

This picking garden attracts 10,000 visitors a year, each of whom are invited to pick a tulip of their choosing from the garden, totally free of charge. A beautiful dedication to the rich, vibrant flowers that have coloured Holland for centuries.

Each year has a relevant theme. 2017 marks 100 years since the creation of the De Stijl movement by the renowned Dutch artist, Piet Monrian (De Stijl translating to ‘style’ in English). It is, therefore, no surprise that Amsterdam has chosen De Stijl for its theme.

Drawing together two integral elements of Dutch culture, the much awaited National Tulip Day is set to design a stunning picking garden with the abstract art of the De Stijl movement at the forefront of the creation. Expect a mass tribute to neo-plasticism, the form used by De Stijl artists. Neo-plasticism creates art using only the three primary colours, restricted to grids of black lines on a white background.

It will be interesting to see how the designers stick to only red, yellow and blue, especially given the range of hues available with the beautiful Dutch tulip.

Digressing further into the nature of tulip season in Holland, it is told that the rich Dutch soil is the perfect home for the roots of the tulip. From March to May these tulips blossom and thrive, catching the eye of any who pass them, be that in the basket of a bicycle, the hand of a child, or flowering in a field.

The Dutch have even created entire gardens in celebration of their favourite flower. Keukenhof, aptly named the Garden of Europe, is an enormous park filled with 7 million flowers across 32 hectares. Much like the artists behind Amsterdam’s ‘picking garden’, the landscaping artists of this stunning Dutch Bulb Field have stayed true to the roots of Holland’s culture, too, also adhering to the theme of Dutch Design.

A taste of tulip mania is good for the soul. The stunning organic colours paired with the magnificent artistic design of those behind it, demonstrate how perfectly modern man can live in harmony with nature.

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