80,000 Tulips. Gone in Hours. What Experiences Like Tulip Day Teach Us About Growing Demand

By Joost Bongaerts
CalFlowers Board Director & Marketing Committee Member
CEO, Florabundance

Last weekend, the CalFlowers Board gathered in San Francisco for our board meeting—followed by an opportunity to connect directly with consumers at one of the city’s most anticipated spring traditions: Tulip Day in Union Square, the official kickoff to Union Square in Bloom.

Thanks to Jeanne Taggart Boes, Executive Director of the San Francisco Flower Market, Inc. and Immediate Past Board Chair of CalFlowers, the CalFlowers Board was invited to participate in the day’s festivities. As a proud sponsor of Tulip Day, the San Francisco Flower Market helped coordinate our involvement, including attendance at the VIP opening reception held at the historic St. Francis Hotel. Experiencing the event from this vantage point made it clear just how much Tulip Day has grown over the years—both in scale and impact. What began as a beautiful floral activation has evolved into a marquee spring event that Union Square businesses and hotels actively support and value for the significant foot traffic, visibility, and economic activity it generates. Along with the broader Union Square in Bloom series of floral installations, retail activations, and seasonal experiences, Tulip Day plays a critical role in drawing visitors back to downtown and reinforcing Union Square as a vibrant destination during the spring months.

Union Square itself was transformed into a vibrant garden of 80,000 tulips, presented by JPMorganChase and supported by key civic and community partners including the Office of the Mayor, San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, San Francisco Recreation & Parks, Anthos, the Consulate General of the Netherlands, Union Square Foundation, and the San Francisco Flower Market. 

And then something remarkable happened.

Residents and visitors stood in long lines—some for hours—under warm spring skies, simply to receive a small bouquet of tulips.

Within hours, all 80,000 stems were gone.

More Than Flowers—An Experience People Crave

Tulip Day is often described as a giveaway—but that misses the bigger picture.

What we witnessed was not just demand for flowers as a product. It was demand for an experience.

People weren’t just picking tulips. They were:

• Gathering with friends and family 
• Taking photos in a sea of color 
• Sharing the moment across social media 
• Participating in a joyful, collective celebration of spring 

Tulip Day—and the broader Union Square in Bloom campaign—illustrate how flowers are evolving beyond traditional retail into immersive, experience-driven moments. Across the spring season, Union Square comes alive with floral installations, in-store activations, hospitality partnerships, and public programming that invite people to engage with flowers in dynamic and memorable ways.

This reflects a broader shift in consumer behavior: people increasingly value experiences over products. Flowers, when presented in this context, become something more powerful—an emotional, shareable, and participatory experience that resonates far beyond the moment.

A Catalyst for the City

With estimates of  tens of thousands of visitors to Union Square, Tulip Day is more than a celebration—it is a catalyst.

It brings:

• Meaningful foot traffic to local retailers, restaurants, and hotels 
• Positive media attention and widespread social engagement 
• A renewed sense of vibrancy to downtown San Francisco 

City leaders and stakeholders recognize the importance of these moments. Events like Tulip Day not only celebrate the season, but also help reinvigorate urban centers, demonstrating how thoughtfully programmed public spaces can drive both economic and cultural impact. 

Union Square becomes more than a shopping district—it becomes a place where people gather, connect, and celebrate.

From Moment to Movement

Watching thousands of people walk away smiling, tulips in hand, reinforced something important:

We do not need to convince people to love flowers. They already do.

What we need to do is:

• Create more opportunities for people to experience flowers firsthand 
• Integrate flowers into everyday life—not just special occasions 
• Turn these moments of joy into lasting habits 

That thinking is what led to the creation of That Flower Feeling, beginning with the “Flowers. Self-Care Made Easy.” campaign. It helped reposition flowers as part of everyday well-being, not just milestone moments.

Today, that work continues with “Just Add Flowers,” building on a simple, universal truth: flowers make life better—and people are ready to embrace that.

The Takeaway

Tulip Day demonstrated what is possible when flowers are experienced, not just purchased.

When people:

• step into a field of flowers 
• engage with them 
• and share in a collective moment of beauty 

They do not just remember the flowers.

They remember how the flowers made them feel.

And that feeling is what drives future demand.

More flowers. To more people. More often.