As New Delhi settles into its brief but welcome spring, the capital’s annual Tulip Festival draws to a close today, marking the end of a short seasonal display that has gradually become a familiar sight in the city’s public gardens and avenues.
Organised by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), the fourth edition of the festival opened on February 23 along Shanti Path in Chanakyapuri, the tree-lined diplomatic enclave that has become the focal point of the city’s tulip showcase.
This year’s display featured more than five lakh tulip bulbs across several locations in Delhi, with the largest concentration planted along the Shanti Path lawns.
Over the past few weeks, the festival offered residents and visitors a chance to pause amid rows of brightly coloured flowers that rarely appear in such numbers in the capital.
Tulips, more commonly associated with the Netherlands, require careful cultivation in Delhi’s climate, and the scale of planting has grown steadily since NDMC first experimented with the flowers several years ago.
“The flowers were lovely and it really felt like spring in full bloom. I was just walking around and taking it all in.” – Neetu Singh, visitor
Beginning as a began modest initiative in 2017–18 with around 17,000 bulbs. the number has expanded dramatically to over 5,17,000 bulbs procured for the season in 2026.
Additional displays appeared in places such as Amrit Udyan, Lodhi Garden, Mandi House, Nehru Park, Central Park in Connaught Place and Talkatora Garden, bringing small bursts of colour to several parts of the city.
For many visitors, the attraction lay in its simplicity. A quiet walk through the gardens or a brief stop during the day offered a glimpse of the fleeting bloom before Delhi’s rising temperatures began to fade the flowers.
“I only stopped by for a few minutes while passing through, but it turned out to be well worth it,” said Neetu Singh, 48, and a homemaker from East Delhi who visited the festival for the first time after hearing about it earlier. “The flowers were lovely and it really felt like spring in full bloom. I was just walking around and taking it all in — it’s wonderful to see something like this in Delhi this time of year.”
“One of the garden keepers even mentioned that these particular flowers aren’t easy to grow at home, but I ended up buying six tulip bulbs anyway. Let’s see if they actually grow,” she added.
The festival also reflects a broader attempt to expand Delhi’s calendar of seasonal horticultural displays. In recent years, larger floral installations and curated gardens have become part of the city’s landscape encouraging residents to spend more time in public green spaces.
Tulips remain a particularly delicate addition ; their blooming window lasts only a few weeks before warmer temperatures begin to take over. But their brief appearance, seems to add to their appeal.
As the 2026 edition wraps up today, the flowers will soon fade back into the soil, leaving behind photographs, small potted bulbs carried home by visitors and the promise that the display may return again next spring.
(Image Courtesy: Obaid Niazi)
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