Every year, for the past 25 years, the Austrian village of Kirchberg in Tirol, Austria celebrates summer with a magnificent flower parade – the Blumencorso Kirchberg. Hundreds of thousands of flowers, including dahlias, gerbera daisies, carnations, and sunflowers are turned into works of art.
| Next date | 15 August 2018 |
| Entry fee | €5 per adult, kids free |
A spectacle of colour
Thousands of spectators line the streets to watch the colourful floral floats pass by. In 2017, more than 10,000 people arrived in soaring summer temperatures not to miss the spectacle. The 30 plus moving artworks pulled by vintage tractors or built on top of interesting vehicles never disappoint.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made their appearance, as did Pippi Longstocking, while faraway places such as Venice and Pisa came to life in the form of a gondola and a leaning tower. Over 600,000 thousand flowers from the Netherlands were used.
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Save the date of the 2018 Blumencorso Kirchberg
The Kirchberg flower parade, or Blumencorso Kirchberg as it is called in German, is traditionally held on 15 August each year. An entry fee of €5 is charged at different entrances to the town. The money is used to help pay for the flowers.
15 August is a Catholic public holiday in Austria to mark the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The town marching band and cavalry lend an extra flair to the celebrations. Children get most excited about the hands full of sweets thrown into the crowds by the colourfully dressed characters on the moving floats. And once the floats have passed, the party continues in the local beer gardens and restaurants.
A labour of love
Different clubs and local organisations in the Alpine village of Kirchberg in Tirol enter as participants in the flower parade. The planning starts months in advance. Depending on the size of the flowers, approximately 300 to 400 flowers are used per square metre of decoration.
Two days before the Blumencorso Kirchberg, the big work starts to stick the flowers into the Styrofoam figures with u-shaped wire clips. The cars, trucks, tractors, and bicycles are decorated with gladioli, gerberas, sunflowers, and carnations. Fortunately, all the material is paid for by the organisers. The participants only contribute their time and manual labour.
Fresh flowers from Dutch farms
The flowers used in the Blumencorso Kirchberg come from farms around the Dutch city of Zundert. They come in over 50 different colours – all except blue and green. To get these colours, white flowers are sprayed with a special dye.
A refrigerated truck brings the flowers to Kirchberg in a journey that lasts 10 hours. Participants may fetch the flowers they ordered after the organisers spent all night unpacking and sorting the around 1,500 boxes containing the approximately 600,000 flowers.
More Blumencorso Kirchberg in pictures
Read more: A fairy tale hike in Tulfes
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I’ve always wanted to see a flower parade! I’ve never heard of one in Austria before, maybe someday I’ll be lucky enough to travel there and to check it out! Love these photos!