Merchants' Flower Market

Merchants' Flower Market

Between May 10 and June 13; the seventh Sunday after Easter

Whitsunday, or Pentecost, in the Dutch city of Haarlem is the day on which the famous flower market opens in the Grote Markt (Great Market). Flower merchants arrive in the afternoon or early evening to set up displays of their flowers on tables and carts. When all the flowers have been arranged, the lights are turned off. As midnight approaches, the market square fills with people. As the bells begin to ring in the steeple of St. Bavo's Church, floodlights go on and thousands of tulips, daffodils, irises, and geraniums appear as if by magic. The festival continues all night until eight o'clock in the morning, with dancing to the sound of barrel organs. People buy herring, pastries, and ice cream from food vendors as well as flowers to place in their windows or on their dining-room tables in celebration of Whitsuntide.
See also Luilak

CONTACTS:
Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions
355 Lexington Ave., 19th Fl.
New York, NY 10017
888-464-6552 or 212-370-7360; fax: 212-370-9507
us.holland.com

SOURCES:
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 65
FestWestEur-1958, p. 135