January 16, 2027 – Event Details & Tips
What: National Tulip Day (Nationale Tulpendag)
Special: See an impromptu field with 200.000 tulips in a wide variety of colors. Pick 10 free tulips (carrying bag provided).
Tickets: No. This is a free event.
When: Saturday, January 17, 2026
Where: Museumplein, Amsterdam
How to get there: Tram 2, 3, 5, or 12 (Public Transport Tickets)
Time: The garden opens at 1 PM and closes at 5 PM at the latest. (Note: in previous years all flowers were picked by about 4 PM. The garden closes when all tulips are gone.)
Photos/Videos: Show up (much) earlier if you want to take photos and videos of the tulip field before the crowd starts picking the flowers.
How long is the wait: Stewards allow a set number of people into the garden at a time. The average waiting time to enter the garden normally is 30-60 minutes.
Accessibility: The tulip picking garden is accessible to wheelchair users.
Keep this in mind:
- Come early: Before the gates to the garden open, you can view and photograph the tulip field from a viewing bridge. Have your camera ready. In 2024 the popular event was visited by an estimated 21,000 visitors from home and abroad. Stewards keep the flow of people moving across the platform.
- Free bag: You will receive a free tulip bag, which you can use for up to 10 flowers. You cannot use your own bags.
- Pickpockets: Events like this are prime opportunities for pickpockets and luggage thieves. Keep an eye (and/or a hand) on your stuff at all times.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Table of contents
- January 16, 2027 – Event Details & Tips
- What is National Tulip Day?
- Free Tulip Picking Garden at Museumplein
- Nationale Tulpendag Theme in 2027
- National Tulip Day: Start of the Cut Tulip Season in the Netherlands
- Organized by Tulip Promotion Netherlands
- Where else can in see tulips in Amsterdam?
- Not here on National Tulip Day? See Keukenhof in the Spring
- Map: National Tulip Day on Museumplein, Amsterdam
- More Amsterdam Tourist Information
What is National Tulip Day?
National Tulip Day (Nationale Tulpendag) is an annual event in January that celebrates the start of the tulip season. The event is celebrated on Amsterdam’s Museumplein where everyone can pick 10 free tulips from a field of 200.000 tulips.
2027 marks the 14th anniversary edition.
Free Tulip Picking Garden at Museumplein
Once a year, on the third Saturday in January, Museumplein — Amsterdam’s largest square — transforms into a giant field of tulips. [Note: until 2022 Tulip Day took place on Dam Square. But the popular event outgrew that square.]
National Tulip Day 2027 takes place on Saturday, January 16.
Nationale Tulpendag Theme in 2027
The theme for the 2027 event is not yet known
The 2026 theme for Tulip Day Amsterdam was United in Bloom! It highlights how tulips connect people, evoke emotions, and communicate in a language everyone understands. This sense of community is experienced every Tulip Day.
National Tulip Day: Start of the Cut Tulip Season in the Netherlands
National Tulip Day (Dutch: Nationale Tulpendag) marks the start of the cut tulip season in the Netherlands. While tulips are available almost year-round, there will be plenty on sale in flower shops, supermarkets, and kiosks.
To celebrate, tulip growers use 200.000 tulips — in a wide range of colors and shapes — to create a tulip picking garden in the center of Amsterdam.
Here’s what that looked like in January 2025:
Organized by Tulip Promotion Netherlands
National Tulip Day is organised by Tulip Promotion Netherlands. The foundation was established by over 400 tulip growers in order to promote Dutch tulips worldwide.
And it works. Floriculture heads the list of Dutch agricultural export products to the tune of 9.5 billion euros. The Netherlands is the world’s largest exporter of tulips – 1.5 to 2 billion tulip bulbs are shipped abroad annually.
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Where else can in see tulips in Amsterdam?
The Amsterdam Tulip Festival is a spring event, typically running from mid-March to mid-May. You will see lots of tulips all around Amsterdam. But the best displays are seen at Keukenhof, and the tulip fields throughout the region
Not here on National Tulip Day? See Keukenhof in the Spring
If you’re not visiting Amsterdam in the middle of January, don’t worry. You can see some 7 million tulips and other flowers at Keukenhof this spring.
Keukenhof is one of the largest and best known flower gardens in the world. Open just 8 weeks a year(!) the garden draws 1.5 million visitors with its stunning floral displays.
Mind you, unlike the National Tulip Day on Dam Square, Keukenhof does not allow you to pick any of its flowers. However, you can buy flower bulbs at the park’s store.
Map: National Tulip Day on Museumplein, Amsterdam
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Anton and Janet Hein live and work in Amsterdam. We are the publishers of DutchAmsterdam.
Anton was born on a houseboat in the center of Amsterdam, right across from the iconic Westertoren and what later became the Anne Frank House museum. Having lived in nearly every district since then, he knows the city like his own back pocket.
Janet was born in England and raised in Ireland before moving to Amsterdam 43 years ago. Even to date she brings an expat’s perspective to the DutchAmsterdam website.
Last updated Sunday, January 18, 2026 CET (Central European Time)
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