The Cellar - Sept 16th, 2014: Bloemencorso Zundert

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Sept 16th, 2014: Bloemencorso Zundert

Bloemencorso is Dutch for flower parade. Zundert, a small town in the Netherlands located at the Belgian border, and host to the world’s biggest flower parade.

Quote:

In Zundert, the flower parade is a social event. Each and every person in Zundert, young and old, is involved in some way or other in construction of the floats and the keeping of the flower fields. The older members are often responsible for planting and growing the dahlias, while the younger people are responsible for designing the floats, building the scale models and overseeing the construction, the details, the coloring and all other aspects of creating the huge floats.

http://cellar.org/2014/bloemencorso1.jpg

Every year the parade in Zundert has 20 floats, put together by 20 hamlets. Tents are erected in the spring at each hamlet and construction continues all summer. It appears from the pictures the floats are people powered. I don't see any other propulsion units.

http://cellar.org/2014/bloemencorso2.jpg

Your can see these wonderful floats for 2014, 2013 and 2012.

I've always wondered how the rose bowl parade and this parade keep the flowers on the floats fresh looking. When I buy flowers, they last two weeks, tops. Usually only one week. Do they just glue all the flowers on the night before the parade? Have giant refrigerators? How long to flowers last in a refrigerator?

I would imagine on this scale it isn't such a big deal (you've planned for the fact, anyway) to just hose everything down regularly. Whereas your kitchen table requires a more delicate flower-care practice.

Those are pretty impressive.

From the Tournament of Roses webpage:
"The process starts with a specially-built chassis, upon which is built a framework of steel and chicken wire. In a process called "cocooning," the frame is sprayed with a polyvinyl material, which is then painted in the colors of the fresh flowers or dry material to be applied later. Every inch of every float must be covered with flowers or other natural materials, such as leaves, seeds or bark. Volunteer workers swarm over the floats in the days after Christmas, their hands and clothes covered with glue and petals. The most delicate flowers are placed in individual vials of water, which are set into the float one by one."
I worked setting flowers on the floats for several years in the 1950's, then rode on them and finally drove one year. Hey, it beat walking several miles carrying a tuba.

That's awesome!

So do the petal look a little mangy up close by parade day? they look great on tv.