19 Giant Flower Sculptures Honour Van Gogh At World’s Largest Flower Parade In The Netherlands

Photo by Erwin Martens

Another year, another Corso Zundert, the legendary parade of giant floats adored with thousands of dahlia flowers that twist through the narrow streets of Zundert, Netherlands. This year 19 teams took inspiration from the work of Vincent van Gogh who was born in Zundert 162 years ago. The towering floats borrow colors, motifs, and imagery from van Gogh’s painting including several interpretations of the artist’s self-portraits.

Photo by Werner Pellis

Started in 1936, the parade celebrates the region’s reputation as a global supplier of dahlia flowers, an area now covering 33 hectares (81 acres) of 600,000 dahlia bulbs in fifty different species. The first Corso Zundert parades were modest in size featuring horse-drawn carts or bicycles covered in flowers, but the event has since grown dramatically. The floats now merge more ambitious aspects of contemporary/urban art with traditional parade floats as part of a friendly annual competition. You can see plenty more photos over on BN DeStem.

Photo by Malou Evers

Photo by Erwin Martens

Photo by Joyce van Belkom

Photo by Werner Pellis

Photo by Bloemencorso Zundert

Photo by Bloemencorso Zundert

Photo by Malou Evers

Photo by Werner Pellis

Photo by Erwin Martens

Photo by Bloemencorso Zundert

Photo by Bloemencorso Zundert

Photo by Joyce van Belkom

Via Bored Panda, Colossal