Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square will be covered with 12,000 free tulips for the public to pick up this weekend in celebration of Dutch Heritage Month.
“Thank You, Toronto” Tulip Day is happening on Sunday, May 21, by the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Toronto, in participation with Pioneer Flower Farms.
May is a historically significant month for the Dutch Canadian community as Canadian forces were instrumental in the liberation of the Netherlands from occupation during the Second World War on May 5, 1945. Ontario is home to approximately 500,000 Dutch Canadians, according to the Consulate General.
The tulip is a Dutch national symbol, and since 1945 the Dutch Royal Family gifts Canadians each year with thousands of tulip bulbs to commemorate Canada’s role in the war and the birth of Dutch Princess Margriet in Ottawa during World War II.
“As a small but colorful token of our gratitude for the heroic efforts of the Canadian forces in World War II, to celebrate springtime and the continuous blossoming relationship between Canada and the Netherlands, the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Toronto likes to offer you a chance to pick your own tulips, here in Toronto,” reads a news release on Monday.
Read more at nowtoronto.com
