The most brightest day of the year is coming again: the day of the flower parade in Zundert. Twenty cars cross the streets, decorated with hundreds of thousands of dahlias. The flower of the flower parade. This week Dennis picks tens of thousands of brightly colored dahlias: “It’s nice that you can make an image with flowers.”
At the age of eight, the pickers walk after a cup of coffee towards the Dahliavelden. A palette of bright colors comes your way: white, purple, yellow, you name it. Or as they say in the Dahlia world: champagne, Gipsy Night or Eveline. On the field are flowers in eight different colors, but in total as many as twenty different shades.
Extra pocket money
The bulbs will be put in the ground in May. After about a month and a half they will come out of the ground. “It is very nice to see how they go from a plant to a large forest in a short time,” says Dennis Braspenning as he designates the flowers. Dennis is the chef flowers of the neighborhood Klein Zundertse Heikant. “I love working outside. It is my passion. That you can make a certain image with so many different shades of flowers, that’s just beautiful.”
Right next to the tent where the car is being built in front of the flower parade, are the Dahlia fields of the neighborhood. Flowers are picked there a few weeks before the parade. In the first instance not for themselves, but for other corsos. “Last week we picked for the corso’s in Vollenhoven and Blankenberge in Belgium,” says Dennis. It is a way to help each other and to earn an extra pocket money yourself.
This morning, eight people are picking on the field, including Wil. At the age of 86 he is the oldest picker this morning. “But look how fast he is,” Dennis nods. Indeed, within a few seconds, Wil has again picked about five dahlias and thrown in his bucket. “It’s fun to do,” he says. “Yes, it’s all about fun, hey.” And that is also the biggest motivation for the other pickers. Coziness, a cup of coffee and chat.
Wilt
But of course there must also be serious picking. If the bucket of the picker is full of dahlias, they are thrown into crates. There are around fifty dahlias in one box, which can then sell the neighborhood for 7 euros. The boxes are picked up and brought to a cooling. That is important, because as soon as the flower no longer gets water, it cannot of course survive for long. “At most four days,” says Dennis.
“As soon as they leave the handle, he no longer gets moisture and then he wilt slowly.” And so occasionally it is quite a race against the clock. “We try to pick the Dahlias as short as possible for the parade.”
In two days the Dahlias are finally tied on the car. It is the last that happens to the car. And on Sunday the corso car of the neighborhood of Klein Zundertse Heikant can shine through the streets of Zundert, with almost 250,000 colorful dahlias on it.
Corso Zundert at Omroep Brabant
The flower parade in Zundert can be followed live on Sunday afternoon, September 7 from 1.30 pm on the various channels of Omroep Brabant: TV, website, app and via Facebook. A summary can be seen in the evening.