The Dutch Bloemencorso Parade...

WOW,  All flowers.......  Gravity-defying floral sculptures from the Dutch  Bloemencorso Parade...          Let's hope the wind doesn't blow too hard! The  flowers have been meticulously placed to create the giraffes, even  down to their eyelids and hair that lines their  neck.            A roaring good show: The intricate blooms have been  manipulated to create this gravity-defying impressive model of a  tiger and her cubs         Every float is made from dahlias. This twisting  house, which is as high as other apartments, weaves its ways  through the narrow streets          Just by using dahlias, volunteers created this  show-stopping piece, where a startled antelope flees the clutches  of a leopard that gives  chase.         Utterly brilliant – the competitors left no detail  out - they even included the numbers on the tags on the ears, and  what appears to be the inner workings of a milk-processing plant  within the cow's body.         Something fishy about this: Bloemencorso saw this  elaborate fish display, which saw a shoal of fish whirl around  each other - even using light-coloured dahlias to shade in the  light bouncing off the  eyeballs.          Bloemencorso began in 1936, and since then has  spiralled in popularity, as the small population makes huge efforts  to outdo one another so they can create sculptures like this huge  organ          Even the meerkats get a mention! The curious  animals are brought to life, as creators perfected every inch of  the models, even down to their nails and shading on their  tails      Out of this world! Every float here is made from  petals and, despite being made from such a delicate, tiny  structure, take on gigantic proportions which people clamour to  see.      It's really taken off! Bloemencorso has grown in  term of popularity and in the sheer size of the creations, with  thousands flocking to the home of Vincent Van Gogh to gasp at the  displays.    Held on the first Sunday of every September, the  quaint town becomes packed with visitors and, on this occasion, a  huge rhinoceros made of delicate  flowers.     Thousands turn out to Bloemencorso, as hamlets  compete with each other to create the  most beautiful display -  including this sinister-looking fishy  creature.   Each of the competing districts of Zundert - which was  the home of Vincent Van Gogh -  constructs its own entry and  competes in the parade, which occurs every first Sunday in   September. According to those behind Bloemencorso, the parade  is all the work of dedicated volunteers, who do not profit from  the colourful display. A staggering six to eight million dahlia  flowers are used to produce the  floats.