Blooming marvelous!

Blooming marvelous! Residents of a Dutch town use thousands of Dahlias to create floats for their Van Gogh-themed flower festival

These are the incredible works of art created by residents in a Dutch village to celebrate their greatest painter on the first Sunday of September every year.

The floral masterpieces, draped in dahlias, are paraded around the streets of Zundert in the south of the Netherlands on giant floats up to twenty metres long and towering 10 metres high.

Legendary artist Vincent Van Gogh was born in the village in 1853 so he has often popped up as a theme in the Netherlands' oldest flower festival, dating back to 1936.

But this year, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of his death, the town decided to devote the whole parade to his artistic genius, with all 19 floats dedicated to him. 

Attracting 50,000 people this year, it also celebrates the region’s proud reputation as a global supplier of dahlias, an area now covering 33 hectares (81 acres) of 600,000 dahlia bulbs in fifty different species.

Annual tradition: This is one of the incredible works of art created by residents in a Dutch village to celebrate their greatest painter on the first Sunday of September every year

Towering beauty: The floral masterpieces, draped in dahlias, are paraded around the streets of Zundert in the south of the Netherlands on giant floats which honoured the legendary Vincent Van Gogh

Wold leader: It also celebrates the region’s proud reputation as a global supplier of dahlias, an area now covering 33 hectares (81 acres) of 600,000 dahlia bulbs in fifty different species

Yeehah: Not all the themes seemed quite so local, with this cowboy making an appearance alongside the obvious Van Gogh sculptures

Jawdropping: This huge, flowered float makes its way along the street to marvels from the crowd at the Netherlands' largest flower festival

Different angle: More than 50,000 people attended the parade, a tradition dating back to 1936 which is the oldest flower parade in Europe, but only dahlias, flown in specially for the parade, are used to decorate the enormous sculptures

Blooming amazing: There is a different theme every year and in 2015, locals were proud to celebrate Van Gogh, who was born in Zundert in 1853

Familiar face? Zundert commemorated the 125th year of Van Gogh's death by dedicating the 2015 edition of its flower parade to his life

Wide ranging: The theme gave rise to a diverse range of float designs, all in the spirit of Van Gogh, with thousands lining the streets to see them go by

Epic proportions: The parade featured featuring nineteen floats of twenty meters long and ten meters high, all of which were works of art in their own right

Great tradition: Flower parades are a tradition that is met in a wide variety in places all over the world, but, not surprisingly in a country famous for its flowers, the tradition is especially popular in The Netherlands

Pencil it in: This amazing hedgehog is made up of hundreds of strands made to look like huge pencils to celebrate drawing

Modern wonder: These float designers decided to take a more modern theme, celebrating more contemporary art forms, including graphic design at the front and spraypaint graffiti, displayed by the tallest figure

Floral brilliance: This flower seems to be a mirror image of the orange blooms at the side of the road, in front of stands full of impressed spectators

Pillar of the community: This incredible structure rides past as part of the traditional parade, holding people more than 20 foot in the air so they can get a bird's-eye view of the crowds

Local hero: Van Gogh, being a local hero, occasionally pops op as a them for the odd float but is this year dominating the whole parade