Bloemencorso Zundert 2026

Bloemencorso Zundert is a parade of giant floats covered in dahlias, staged every September in the West Brabant village of Zundert. The organisers describe it as the largest flower parade in the world. The 2026 edition runs across two days, Sunday 6 and Monday 7 September.

Everything takes place in the centre of the municipality of Zundert, which sits between Breda and Antwerp. Sunday is parade day. Monday is given over to the float exhibition, where the same floats are shown at close range on the exhibition grounds at Molenstraat 155.

What happens

Twenty hamlets, known locally as buurtschappen, each build a single float and compete for the honour of winning the corso. The scale is the point. A float can stand nine metres tall and carry as many as half a million dahlias by the time it is finished. Nothing tows them. The floats move through the streets under human power.

Contemporary floats are built across multiple chassis and often incorporate moving parts, so what passes in front of you is closer to slow mechanical theatre than a procession of decorated carts.

Programme

On Sunday 6 September:

• 10.00: street theatre acts and the annual market get under way, starting from Nassauplein.
• 13.30: the parade sets off from the exhibition grounds, with the first passage along the Corsoboulevard at Oranjeplein.
• Around 16.30: the second passage and the prize announcement at the Corsoboulevard.
• From around 18.00: the exhibition opens and the Corsofeest begins at Oranjeplein and at local venues.

On Monday 7 September:

• 09.00 to 22.00: float exhibition at the exhibition grounds, Molenstraat 155.
• 11.00 to 16.00: annual market.
• 11.00 to 13.00: first presentation round, with the floats in full regalia plus performers, movement and music.
• 14.30 to 16.30: second presentation round.
• 18.45 to 20.45: final presentation and farewell to the floats.

The organisation publishes this schedule subject to change, so check the official programme page closer to the weekend.

Tickets and official information

This is not a free street event. Watching the Sunday parade requires a parcours ticket, which is what admits you to the route on corso Sunday. It costs 13 euros in advance and 16 euros at the gate. A separate exhibition ticket is 6 euros in advance and 7 euros at the gate. The printed programme booklet costs 5 euros.

Grandstand seating is sold separately, and the distinction matters: a tribune ticket on its own does not admit you to the event. Anyone with a grandstand seat still needs an entrance ticket alongside it.

Children aged 12 and under enter free, although a grandstand seat must still be paid for. Residents of the municipality of Zundert are admitted free on production of a valid passport or driving licence at the ticket desk.

Advance sales for entrance tickets open from mid-April 2026, with grandstand tickets following from 6 June. Tickets are sold through the organisation’s official shop at shop.ticketing.cm.com/bloemencorso. General information is published at corsozundert.nl, which maintains an English section.

Getting there

Extra buses run on line 374 from Breda Centraal station and from Breda city centre specifically for the corso, using a temporary stop near Molenzicht 1. Parking costs 5 euros, and the car parks sit around a kilometre from the route, so factor in a walk at both ends of the day.

Three of the parking areas also offer guarded bicycle storage: Mencia Sandrode, reached via Molenzicht; the Prinsenstraat car park; and the site on Wernhoutseweg near the CLTV grounds.

Visitors holding a disabled parking permit have two dedicated areas. P09 at Bredaseweg 15 is reached by showing the pass to traffic controllers at the junction of Bredaseweg and Palmbosstraat. The Beekzicht car park is reached by showing the pass to controllers near the Total station in Wernhout. Designated wheelchair spaces along the route are located in Molenstraat.

Meaning and history

Zundert has held its corso since 1936. What gives the parade its character is the competitive structure. Twenty separate hamlets each design and construct their own entry, so the corso is a contest between neighbours rather than a display assembled by a single production company.

There is a junior version too. Kindercorso Zundert is held two weeks after the main event, on the third Sunday of September.

Common questions

What time does the parade start?

At 13.30 on Sunday 6 September, setting off from the exhibition grounds and running via Molenstraat through the streets of the village.

Is it free to watch the parade?

No. An entrance ticket for the parcours is required to visit the parade on corso Sunday.

Do children need a ticket?

Children aged 12 and under are admitted free. If they are using a grandstand seat, that seat has to be paid for.

Can I arrive by bicycle?

Yes. Guarded bicycle storage is provided outside the parade route, at the sites that also serve as car parks.

Can I still see the floats if I miss Sunday?

Yes. The floats are on display at the exhibition grounds on Molenstraat 155 throughout Monday, from 09.00 to 22.00, with presentation rounds during the day and a final farewell in the evening.