Flower Bulb Day 2020 Cancelled Following Recommendations By San Francisco Department of Health

SAN FRANCISCO, March 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amidst rising concerns for public health and safety, Royal Anthos announced this morning that it has cancelled the majority of planned festivities today for Flower Bulb Day 2020, a pop-up tulip garden held on San Francisco's Union Square filled with more than 100K colorful tulips that the public is invited to pick and take home free of charge.

The tulip garden will be closed this year to comply with recommendations announced late March 6 by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, the Department of Emergency Management and San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed's Office. The recommendations call for the cancellation of non-essential events, such as large gatherings and large community events, as well as limited outings for vulnerable populations, suspended non-essential travel, remote workplaces, safety protocols for schools, cleaning and protection of public transit, health care settings, and general recommendations for the general public.

In lieu of the closure of the pop-up tulip garden, Royal Anthos volunteers will begin handing out bouquets of free tulips on Union Square to the public on a first-come, first-served basis, until all the tulips are gone.

"We are deeply saddened to have to cancel Flower Bulb Day 2020 on such short notice, however, we understand the gravity of the situation and agree that keeping the public safe and healthy is more important as this time," said Henk Westerhof, Chairman of Royal Anthos. "While our 2020 event will no longer take place in the way we had planned, we look forward to returning next year to continue to raise awareness of cut tulips grown in the US from European-produced flower bulbs."

Flower Bulb Day is a visually stunning celebration of spring that celebrates and showcases the beauty and availability of classic, cheerful European flower bulbs. European bulb farmers export approximately 100 different species of flower bulbs annually, including large quantities of tulips, lilies, hyacinths, daffodils, dahlias and gladioli to more than 100 countries worldwide. The US is by far the largest export market for European-grown flower bulbs, with more than one billion bulbs exported annually to the US, where they are planted in private and public gardens, as well as greenhouses by professional growers for the production of cut flowers. 

About Royal Anthos
Anthos represents the companies that trade in flower bulbs and nursery stock products in Europe and abroad. The field for the promotion of their interests covers a wide area: fulfilling a supervisory role in the development of (inter)national policies for market access, co-financing and advising the promotion policy of the industry, co-financing and managing the international phytosanitary policy and co-responsibility for the sector policy by participation in organizations and committees dealing with promotion, market access, quality, phytosanitary issues, the environment, education, research and labor issues. For more information, please visit http://www.anthos.org/for-and-by-the-trade.

SOURCE Royal Anthos