http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/bloemencorso-zundert-flower-parade-2013.html
Bloemencorso Zundert is the biggest event of the year for the small town of Zundert, the Netherlands, and incidentally, the largest flower parade in the world. People look forward to it for months, and in summer they spend weeks and weeks preparing for it. Huge floats are made of wire, cardboard and papier-mâché and entirely covered in dahlias in intricate designs. The dahlias for grown specifically for the parade, and thousands of them are required just to cover one float. The floats are made by twenty different hamlets and each of them consists of hundreds of builders, aged 1 to 100, who are all equally crazy about the bloemencorso. The older members of the hamlet are often responsible for planting and growing the dahlias, while the younger ones build the float in large temporary tents that are built exclusively for the event.
The event is held on the first Sunday of September, which fell on 1st day of the month this year. Twenty gigantic flower sculptures took over the town on Sunday, mesmerizing thousands of spectators, young and old. Every year, Zundert manages to brush off the old-fashioned atmosphere that comes with the word ‘flower parade’ by presenting spectacular and modern dahlia creations to its audience. From statuesque Esher-like floats, to playful designs about funfairs. In Zundert, flower floats aren’t just pretty but they contain movement, can be blown up, frozen in ice or besmirched in paint.
This year’s winning float was titled ‘Gekkengoud’ by Laer-Akkermolen, designed by Steven van Erck and Stefan van Steen. A float about the Aztec ruler that had himself gilded. The Spanish believed that whoever looked at him would slowly become mad. Oro Loco they called it, ‘maddening gold’.
We have a handful of pictures from this year’s event. Photos by Niels Braspenning and Malou Evers.
Official website: www.corsozundert.nl
Magnificent Flower Sculptures at Bloemencorso Zundert Flower Parade
The huge floats are made by twenty different hamlets and each of them consists of hundreds of builders, aged 1 to 100, who are all equally crazy about the bloemencorso. The older members of the hamlet are often responsible for planting and growing the dahlias, while the younger ones build the float in large temporary tents that are built exclusively for the event.
Building a float for the bloemencorso is mainly a social event. Builders of all ages work side by side for over three months to get the float of their hamlet ready on time. It has to be as perfect as possible in order to win the competition.
The parade itself takes place on the first Sunday of September, but the members of the hamlets work on their floats all summer. The tents are put up in May or June and from then on the volunteers put all their effort in creating the giant artworks. The last three days before the actual parade are the most stressful. Because the flowers have to be fresh, the hamlets can only start applying the dahlias on the floats on the Thursday before the parade. If necessary, the builders will work day and night to have their float ready on Sunday.
Most people in Zundert will happily give up their days off to work on the float. The social cohesion that comes from building it is very important. A hamlet is like a family where everyone knows each other and everyone is welcome. After a long evening working on the float people drink a beer together and most hamlets organize all kinds of other activities like song contests and barbecues.
via Wikipedia, Omroepbrabant.nl and bloemencorsozundert.nl
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