For two years, the anniversary parties of the parades in Elim and Frederiksoord were postponed due to corona. But today the party breaks loose in full force. In both villages, the anniversaries are celebrated in the traditional way, with a long row of decorated floats full of artfully arranged flowers.
“I think it gives everyone a lot of incentives and tension,” says Nathalie Sturm of Corso Frederiksoord. “We’ve been really looking forward to it.”
Corso Frederiksoord is sixty years old and Bloemencorso Elim is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. A flower parade is a procession of decorated wagons that are largely covered with flowers. Dahlias are mainly used for this, which are pinned to the cart by hand. Corsos are usually in August or September, when the dahlia flowers are at their best. Flower parades have been declared a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2021.
Corso Frederiksoord is a social event that participants spend months working on. It was not so easy to get everyone moving again after two years of coronastop. Sturm: “It took some time to start up again indeed. Some groups still have few people, so we hope that will come up again.”
On the other hand, the parade does have a novelty this year in the form of a junior parade. Young people between the ages of 12 and 18 built their own parade float for the first time. With this, the organization wants to involve this age group more in the event.
The theme this year is ‘Corso 60 Entertainment oo!’ and each group gives its own interpretation. The wagon of pirate music lovers has been worked every evening for weeks and even into the late hours. “I didn’t sleep,” says car builder Janco Smit. “At seven o’clock the last flower went in and at eight o’clock we had to drive the car out of the tent. So that was pointless.”
Also in Elim the party broke out today. Contrary to a number of larger parades, this parade is free for visitors. “Then it is for everyone, even for someone who does not have a budget,” says Klaasje Guichelaar of Bloemencorso Elim. “Sometimes you are thirty euros further and I think that is quite pricey.”
The fiftieth anniversary was celebrated with a parade through the village. Children on a decorated bicycle or go-kart alternate with music bands and larger decorated cars, such as a 70’s hippie bus completely covered with pink dahlias.
For the past two years, mosaics were made with flowers next to the road, because the parade was canceled. The organization is very pleased that it was possible again today. “This makes me happy,” says Guichelaar. “Mosaic signs are nice, but this is the parade we want to put up.”
View the floats decorated with flowers in Elim and Frederiksoord here: