Corso Zundert - Dutch

I am Corso Zundert, known as the world's largest flower parade. My story began in 1936 in the small town of Zundert, located in the Netherlands. The people there wanted a special way to celebrate the birthday of their queen at the time, Queen Wilhelmina. My first parade was much more modest than what you might see today. Instead of enormous, complex structures, the celebration involved people decorating their bicycles with flowers and parading them alongside a few decorated farm carts. It was a simple, joyful event that planted the seed for the grand spectacle I would become over the many decades that followed.

My identity is tied to one very specific and beautiful flower: the dahlia. The rule for every float in my parade is that it must be covered entirely with dahlia flowers, and nothing else. This requires an incredible number of blooms—millions of them every single year. To make sure there are enough, the people of Zundert dedicate large fields all around the town just for growing them. The community cultivates all the dahlias needed for the parade, a tradition that shows their deep commitment to me. This focus on a single type of flower is what makes me truly unique among parades around the world.

At the heart of my existence is a friendly but serious competition. The parade is made up of floats created by twenty different neighborhoods, which are known as 'buurtschappen,' or hamlets. Each hamlet forms a team and works as a community to bring its artistic vision to life. This is a tradition that passes through families. Grandparents who may have helped build floats when they were young now work alongside their children and grandchildren. Everyone volunteers their time, skills, and energy, united by the goal of creating a breathtaking work of art that represents their neighborhood.

The process of building one of my floats is a massive undertaking that stretches over most of the year. It begins with the design phase, where each hamlet's team creates small, detailed models to plan their creation. Once a design is chosen, the hard physical work begins. For months, volunteers construct enormous frames from welded steel, which form the skeleton of the float. They then cover this metal structure with paper-mâché to create the surfaces and shapes. The final, most intense stage happens in the last three days before the parade. In what they call 'Corso fever,' thousands of volunteers work around the clock, day and night, carefully attaching every single dahlia by hand until the entire float is covered in a vibrant carpet of color.

My grand finale takes place on the first Sunday of September each year. On this day, the streets of Zundert fill with spectators who come from all over to witness the parade. The massive, flower-covered floats, each a masterpiece of design and teamwork, slowly make their way through the town. A professional jury carefully inspects each creation and announces a winner, deciding which hamlet has built the most beautiful float of the year. While winning is a great honor, the builders often say that the true prize is the immense pride they feel in what their community has accomplished together.

I also share a special connection with one of history's most famous artists. The town of Zundert is the birthplace of the painter Vincent van Gogh. To honor this legacy, the float designers sometimes draw inspiration from his famous paintings and unique artistic style. You might see a float that echoes the swirling skies of his work or captures the bright colors he loved to use. This creative tribute is a meaningful way for the town to celebrate its connection to its most famous resident, blending my tradition of flower art with the world of fine art.