Colossal Floral Parade Floats Sweep The Streets Of The Netherlands
Quaint rural villages like Zundert, in the Netherlands’ southern regions, may not seem like much but, once a year, they’re transformed by colossal floral spectacle Corso Zundert.
Every year since the festival’s creation in 1936, the first weekend of September is dedicated to the dahlia flower, which are used to decorate enormous floats that parade the town’s streets.
The oldest and most elaborate flower fair in Europe, it attracts crowds of over 50,000 annually, and is completely organised by community volunteers, who work tirelessly year-round to ensure everything goes exactly to plan.
Last week, the festival pitted 20 neighbouring townships against each other in a friendly rivalry, competing for the best float crown, which is determined via public vote.
Dahlias come in a bunch of different colours, like pink, white, orange and purple, creating an extensive natural palette of shades and colours for artists to choose from when constructing their creations.
It’s usually a mad rush to finish, though: the flowers are the finishing touches of these truly impressive floats. Because the display must remain fresh, villages have just three days to cover their constructions with the hundreds of thousands of blossoms necessary to cover them.
If you’re gearing up for next year’s festivities, be sure to pack your antihistamines.
(Lead Image: Malou Evers. All Images courtesy of Corso Zundert)
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