The world’s largest flower parade, Bloemencorso Zundert, returned this past Sunday with a very special twist. In honor of the 125th anniversary of Vincent Van Gogh’s death—the famous painter was born in Zundert, the Netherlands—the 2015 Zundert Flower Parade featured 19 jaw-dropping flower floats inspired by Van Gogh’s life and work. Unsurprisingly, this year’s results are as, if not more, mesmerizing as the entries from years before. Click through to see all the amazing photos and find out which Van Gogh float won this year’s competition!
In addition to holding the title of the world’s largest flower parade made by volunteers, the Bloemencorso Zundert is also one of the oldest, dating back to 1936. Held every first Sunday in September in the town of Zunbert, the parade features gigantic floats with artworks made from steel wire, cardboard, paper-mache, and thousands of colorful dahlia flowers. Per tradition, dahlias are the only flower allowed to decorate the floats and are grown by Zundert’s participating hamlets. Zundert currently grows 33 hectares (81 acres) of dahlia bulbs from fifty different species.
Related: These Amazing Dutch Floats Made From Thousands of Flowers Will Blow Your Mind!
One hundred thousand spectators showed up for this year’s annual flower parade, which featured 19 floats, each from a different hamlet. The elaborate floats drew inspiration from Van Gogh’s appearance, idiosyncrasies, and his post-impressionist paintings. The months-long effort poured into each incredible, larger-than-life artwork is largely driven by friendly competitive spirit; the hamlets compete with one another every year for the honor of being crowned the Zundert Flower Parade winner. The 2015 top prize went to the hamlet Buurtschap Wernhout’s, which won with their ‘Adieu Vincent,’ a massive float decorated in purple dahlias artfully depicting Van Gogh on his deathbed.
Via Colossal
Images via Bloemencorso Zundert Facebook
