The Bollenstreek Flower Parade - STEVEN R. TABOR

The Bollenstreek Flower Parade

Why do people love a parade?

In 2022, after a hiatus of two years, the Bloemencorso of the Bollenstreek was held. This is the largest spring festival in The Netherlands. This colorful spectacle is celebrated annually during one week of the year by more than one million visitors from Holland and abroad. The main highlight of the fair is the parade on Saturday the 23rd of April when the colorful floats that are decorated with flowers travel the 42 km parade route from Noordwijk to Haarlem through the tulip and bulb fields. The parade also includes music from a number of different marching bands.

This year's theme of the festival was "celebrating memories", and had floats which re-lived memories from the last 75 years of the parade. All of those who created the floats and take part in the parade are volunteers. Their sense of pride, belonging and sense of place are immediately visible in their faces as the parade passes by. Crowds of visitors, both young and old, line the 42 km parade route, and plenty of "ahs and ohs" were heard as one after another special float passes by.

If you'd like to see the full series, download the PDF catalog here.