And the Winner Is...

I loved how the float sponsored by KLM made use of the iconic Delft Blue design on its three segments: the wooden shoe,

... the tulip vase and...

 ...the kissing couple.

 I was obviously not alone loving this design as it won first prize.

Let’s Play Ball....

Although basketball is not a big thing in the Netherlands, that sport was used on a float about street fashion.

 Guess this part was used to represent the street.

Fly Boy...

 The sunglasses on the pilot’s cap was a nice touch.

Of course, I my couldn’t resist taking a photo of my favorite Fly Boy with this float.

The Catwalk...

When I learned there was a float called Catwalk, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

 When I saw the cats, they still had large patches of white...

 ...which were gone in time for the parade.

The girls on the catwalk were dressed as cats rather than models.

Baked Goods...

I was surprised when I saw the huge amount of real bread that was going to be used on the bakery float.

While bread might not have an obvious tie-in to fashion, the float also featured the typical hat and uniform of a baker.

 Loved how this float also incorporated bikes.

Dutch Sheep...

 This ram was quite huge and quite naked when I saw him.

 And so was the ewe.

 They both turned out quite cute.

Shoes are Fashion, Too!

It was fascinating seeing how these white frames of a sneaker and high heel were transformed...

...into this cool yellow one...

...and this red one.

Leiden, Historic City of Textiles...

I was unsure what Leiden’s float was supposed to represent until I saw it in the parade.

From this angle it was still a bit confusing, but from the side it was clearly a loom. Back in the 1600s, Leiden was famous for its textiles.

Flowers and Fashion at the Bloemencorso...

In addition to taking over 200 photos when I saw the  floats being made, I also took over 200 photos at the Flower Parade itself. Of course, I won’t post all of them, but must warn you that I am going to post a lot of the before and after shots in the same order that the floats appeared in the parade. This first one was sponsored by the country of Thailand.

Many of the floats were so tall that they required scaffolding for the volunteers to be able to access the entire structure.

It was so cool seeing the floats completed. The front of this one was a bit kooky, but the elephants were great.

2016 Kiddie Flower Parade...

This year, Carlin and Kent joined us for the Bloemencorso (Flower Parade). We took the train to Voorhout and got there early enough to see the Kiddie Flower Parade, which is always one of my favorite parts. As you can see, there were lots of creative interpretations of this year’s theme of Flowers and Fashion.

Behind-the-Scenes at the Flower Parade...

After watching the Bloemencorso (Flower Parade) for so many years, I was thrilled to finally have my first chance to see the floats being made thanks to the BSN Family Association organizing a tour. Strangely enough, the building used to build the floats is actually a massive indoor tennis club in Noordwijk. Our tour guide did a great job explaining the entire process.

Each float is built by a team of volunteers from a variety of clubs in the vicinity of the bulb fields. The interior of the float is typically built of a steel frame covered in roofing insulation (essentially like Styrofoam) in which to stick in the flowers. It was typical to have conceptional drawings next to the float; this one was for a float sponsored by a bakery.

There were hundreds of volunteers scattered all around the building. While many worked on decorating the floats, others prepped the flowers with a metal pin which would then be pushed into the insulation.

Rather than sweaty athletes, the enormous space was filled with buckets of fragrant flowers.

In addition to the 20 floats, 30 cars were decorated.

It was intriguing to see how these flower segments were used to build signs; it reminded me of Lite-Brite, a toy from my childhood.

Although I took over 200 photos that day, rather than posting photos of the floats at this point, I’ll combine the photos of the floats in progress with the finished floats that I saw two days later at the Flower Parade.