2026 Tulip Queen finalists; Olivia Rose, left, Trinity Tarver, Phylicia Hinton, Alexis Savoie and Syaira Liverpool, right, pose for a photo in the tulip beds at Washington Park on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Will Waldron/Times Union
People stop for a photo by the tulip beds at Washington Park on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Will Waldron/Times Union
Albany Mayor Dorcey Applyrs introduces the 2026 Tulip Queen finalists on Thursday, May 7, 2026, during a news conference at Washington Park in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Will Waldron/Times Union
2025 Tulip Queen Abigail Williams is interviewed during a news conference to introduce 2026 contestants on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at Washington Park in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Will Waldron/Times Union
2026 Tulip Queen finalists; Phylicia Hinton, left, Alexis Savoie, Olivia Rose, Trinity Tarver and Syaira Liverpool, right, are interviewed on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at Washington Park in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Will Waldron/Times Union
Tulips are in full bloom at Washington Park ahead of this year’s tulip festival on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Will Waldron/Times Union
Abigail Williams of Albany, after being named the 2025 Tulip Queen during a ceremony on Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Albany, N.Y. Her tenure will end with the crowning of the new Tulip Queen on May 9, 2026.
Jim Franco/Times Union
ALBANY — Mayor Dorcey Applyrs introduced the five finalists for Tulip Queen amid the flower beds in Washington Park that inspired the royal title.
Syaira Liverpool, 22, Alexis Savoie, 24, Phylicia Hinton, 22, Trinity Tarver, 23, and Olivia Rose, 18, were selected following nominations and an interview round, which focused on their community service and leadership experience. One of the five will be crowned Tulip Queen at the Albany Tulip Festival on Saturday, and the remaining four will serve on the Tulip Court. They will focus on community outreach programs and literacy campaigns throughout the year.
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“Since its inception at the first Tulip Festival in 1949, the Tulip Queen and Court has evolved from traditional pageantry into a community service program that has enriched thousands of lives here in the Capital Region,” Applyrs said. “While the Albany Tulip Queen coronation ceremony retains the grandeur of decades of local history, the Tulip Queen and Court program has become a far-reaching initiative dedicated to promoting literacy and educational projects. So gone are the days of just standing and waving and smiling — this has become an initiative to promote literacy and invest back into our communities.”
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Over the next year, the 2026 Tulip Queen and Court will implement educational programming throughout Albany that is focused on reading and community. Recent projects include senior book clubs, resume workshops, craft and storytimes for young children and donation drives for food, clothing and personal care items. The city’s royal ambassadors also receive scholarships to support their educational endeavors. The queen will receive $5,000 while the other four members of the court will each receive $1,500.
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Liverpool was eager to return to her Albany roots after receiving her degree in sociology from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She will pursue a master’s degree in counseling this fall with the goal of becoming a college and career readiness counselor, and establishing a scholarship to help students afford college.
“The Albany community poured so much into me. They instilled so many important values that I still carry with me to this day,” Liverpool said. “I want to show my gratitude and servitude and give back to the community that I love.”
Savoie, currently studying for her master’s in public administration at the University at Albany while serving as an Excelsior fellow for New York state, is a fifth-generation Albany resident. She currently works with United University Professions as an advocate for SUNY and teaching hospital staff and faculty.
“I always grew up loving reading and writing, and I really always felt like my voice mattered,” Savoie said. “I’m hoping that our literacy programs can share that with other youth.”
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Hinton currently works as a personal aide helping rehabilitation patients in Albany. She is pursuing a career in early childhood education with the intention of owning and operating her own day care business.
“Why I even took the chance on following through with the nomination is I wanted to make a meaningful impact within Albany,” Hinton said. “I want to make that impact within the youth, within the people who are in the community of Albany, and be able to visibly see a change.”
Tarver moved to Albany from Maryland when she was 9, following the death of her father. She has spent the last two years as a teaching assistant at the Center for Disability Services. In addition to serving local children, she is eager to work with her fellow court members.
“I want to continue to grow and learn with them as we start our literacy program and serve our community,” Tarver said.
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Rose, a fourth-generation Albany resident, is an incoming UAlbany freshman. There, she will study political science and environmental studies. She is the founder of the South End Butterfly Sanctuary.
“I’ve gotten to experience the wonderful and rich culture and community here, and being a part of the Tulip Court really gives me an avenue to actually express how much I care about the community and involve myself in projects to actually make a difference,” Rose said.
This year’s queen will succeed Abigail Williams. The freelance video game designer became a regular, friendly face in the South End neighborhood through her full-time work with The RED Bookshelf, which provides free books for children. There, she is perhaps better known by her alias, Bat Girl, and her work with the nonprofit’s superhero-themed mentorship program THE T.I.T.A.N.S., which stands for Tackling Issues Through Answers, Networks and Solutions. Under her leadership, the 2025 Tulip Court expanded its typical youth-centric programming to include reading programs for seniors at Livingston Apartments and Westview Homes, Williams said.
“I’m really proud of being able to reach a group of people who we haven’t reached before with this program,” Williams said. “They have so much to share, but more often than not, they feel left behind or left out. Now I have something to pass down. I was tearing up, half allergies, half being sad because my whole life has been about mentorship, and now I can mentor these lovely ladies.”
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Albany crowned its first Tulip Queen, Jeanne Coakley, in 1949, the same year the festival debuted. At the time, the coronation also included a Tulip King (Kenneth Irish), though the court evolved to the community service-centric queenship we know today.
During World War II, Albany adopted the Dutch city of Nijmegen as its sister city following extensive air raid damage and its capture by German forces. Queen Wilhemina of the Netherlands sent 2,000 tulip bulbs — the Netherlands’ national flower — to Albany as a sign of gratitude, planting the seeds for the Tulip Festival. Since then, the event has been Albany’s annual celebration of its Dutch heritage and the city’s bonds.