The Zundert Flower Festival  or the Bloemencorso, as locals call it, is the largest flower festival in the world! The Zundert Flower parade started in 1936 and has continued to delight visitors young and old  ever since. Celebrated on the first Sunday of September in the town of Zundert in the Netherlands, thousands of visitors gather on the streets to see these impressive,  larger-than-life floats that are meticulously decorated with flowers.

Along with flowers, steel wire, cardboard and other materials are use to create these gigantic masterpieces. Float entries in the past have included animals, mystical creatures, cityscapes and more! Unlike other flower parades, the Zundert Flower Parade only uses dahlias. Some floats can contain as much as 500 000  blooms!

Here are some photos from the 2012 Zundert Flower Parade:

Photo Credit: Flickr

Photo Credit: Flickr

Photo Credit: Flickr

Photo Credit: Flickr

It takes about a year’s work to prepare for this annual festival. All of the work is done by volunteers, including the cultivation of the dahlias.  The floats are built by 20 different hamlets, each containing hundreds of passionate and hardworking builders.

Photo Credit: Flickr