Crowds back for Pike Place Market’s annual Flower Festival

Pike Place Market’s annual flower festival is usually a big draw for people celebrating Mother’s Day.

Last year, the market was shut down due to the pandemic, and the flower festival hit the road.

A lot of people were there making up for lost time — a chance to celebrate this sunny Mother’s Day outside and spend a little money too.

Thirteen proved a lucky number for the Pike Place Market. On the market’s 13th Mother’s Day, it celebrated with a flower festival.

This riot of color proved irresistible for mothers and those who love them.

Justin Logan and Tiffany Leon were there. She is the mother-to-be receiving flowers on this day.

“As many as she wants,” said Logan.

“They’re beautiful out here,” said Leon. “Yeah, we live like three or four blocks, so we’re here almost every weekend. But there’s a lot more flowers here today than usual.”

Rhea Kishore was there buying flowers for her mother-in-law. It turns out she’s on the road to motherhood too.

“I am almost a mother, actually,” she said. “I’m five months along. So I’m excited about next Mother’s Day. I’ll be a mother.”

This is what the last Mother’s Day looked like at the market: The flower festival converted to a drive-thru pop-up throughout Seattle and Renton. The market itself — shut down.

“It was real hard on us,” said Gretchen Hoyt as she wrapped flowers for customers. “Real hard on us. We had a mountain of flowers we threw away.”

Hoyt has been selling flowers at the Pike Place Market for more than 45 years. She grows those flowers on her Alm Hill Gardens north of Bellingham.

But this is feeling more like it once did.

“Our sales have not been what they were before COVID,” she said. “I think a lot of people are still staying home. Although, there’re a lot of people here.”

A lot of people indeed. The owner of the Purple Store said people were not only here in the market but also spending more money than they have in a long time.

All of that is good news for those hoping we truly are on the road to recovery.

Cox Media Group