California Flower Mall opens for last-minute Mother's Day shoppers in downtown LA

Downtown Los Angeles's California Flower Mall opened Sunday to last-minute shoppers marking a rare convergence: May 10 falls simultaneously on U.S. Mother's Day and Mexico's Día de las Madres in 2026.

Mexican Mother's Day is fixed annually on May 10, while the U.S. observance falls on the second Sunday of May — meaning the two dates coincide only in certain years. The overlap drew shoppers from across the Los Angeles area seeking wholesale flowers and underscored the city's multicultural celebration of the holiday.

The California Flower Mall, located on San Pedro Street between 8th and 9th streets, featured more than 30 vendors offering wholesale-priced bouquets and custom arrangements, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. The market also hosted a piano serenade from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. for early-morning visitors.

May 10 carries particular significance for Mexican and Mexican-American families. While U.S. Mother's Day shifts to whichever Sunday falls second in May, Mexico's Día de las Madres is always observed on May 10, ABC7 reported. In 2026, the two dates aligned, creating a shared occasion for communities across the Los Angeles area.

Plaza Mexico in Lynwood also marked the holiday with a Día de las Madres event from noon to 3 p.m., featuring roses, mariachis and live entertainment, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

The American Mother's Day holiday traces its origins to activist-poet Julia Ward Howe, who first proposed the observance in 1870 as a call for peace and disarmament, ABC7 reported. The first formally organized Mother's Day celebration was held May 10, 1908, at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia.

From there the holiday spread rapidly: it was observed in 18 cities by 1873 and in nearly every state by 1911. President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday in 1914, signing a congressional joint resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day across the United States.

The 2026 alignment of U.S. and Mexican Mother's Day on a single date offered Los Angeles's diverse communities a rare shared occasion — a reminder that the holiday, first conceived more than 150 years ago, continues to evolve across cultures.