The village of Loenhout, up near the Netherlands border, holds an annual Bloemencorso each September. From the ads, it looked like the Belgian version of California’s Rose Parade, so we bought tickets and figured we would check it out.
It all started in 1952 as a celebration of the road from Brecht to Loenhout. (Since Brecht is on the main road to Antwerp, perhaps that gave them easy access to the big city for the first time). In any event, that first parade consisted of 18 flower floats, bands, village children, and city bigwigs. A new tradition was born.
By 1959, the parade began to be televised. Our seats yesterday were near the TV cameras, which meant that many of the acts paused and performed for us. As we exited the parade area, we saw the broadcast version of the parade up on a jumbo screen.
In 2013, the Loenhout Bloemencorso was recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Loenhout is a village of only 5,000 people, and it’s estimated that 70% of them are involved in the Bloemencorso in some fashion each year. The village swells with 20,000 visitors from all over Belgium. Dahlias are mostly grown in the fields surrounding the village, but reinforcements have to be brought in from elsewhere as the parade and the complexity of the floats has grown.
Our 2026 version didn’t begin very auspiciously. Rain was pouring down; event organizers gave those of us in the grandstand rain ponchos, which were greatly appreciated. Of course, at the last minute, two tall men came in and sat down right in front of me and Rachelle, so many of our photos have their bald heads in them. Darn!
But anyway, the rain began tapering off just as the first band began to play, and mostly dried up after that, so Mother Nature was being kind.
Rachelle and I weren’t terribly impressed at first. The early floats were small, perhaps 5 feet (1.5m) high, and were pulled by small schoolchildren, who were usually dressed in costumes to match the theme of their float. We wondered: did we really spend over an hour on the bus and an hour waiting for the parade to begin (plus the ticket prices, of course) just to see a minor children’s parade?
As the parade went on, the floats kept getting bigger and more elaborate. Some were animated or had smoke coming out of various places. Towards the end, some of the floats were three stories high and quite lengthy.
Let’s take a look at some examples:
This early penguin float was pulled by small schoolchildren wearing penguin costumes. The parade doesn’t require a specific theme for the year; the local areas produce floats on whatever subject they wish. You can see a few poncho-clad heads in this photo.
A chicken float led by schoolchildren dressed as chicken or farmers.
Fries are a big deal for Belgium, since they claim to have invented that potato favorite. Here, children dressed as cartons of fries pull a frituur (fries shop) wagon.
The whale was when Rachelle and I realized that the floats were going to get bigger.
The human spinning wheel was a change-up from the flower floats.
Let’s ski (or snowboard) down the hill — but be careful, it’s a dangerous slope!
This float was a clown being shot out of a circus cannon. Can you see the smoke coming out of his ear? There was also smoke coming out of the back of the cannon. Here, you get a pretty good look at the detail of all those dahlias coming together to form one face.
Oh no, crooks have robbed the Louvre and made off with the Mona Lisa! There are also other stolen treasures in their loot bag. By this time, the group pushing the float has grown to 8-10 burly men.
Here’s a close-up of the Mona Lisa that the robbers looted.
This Thai yaksha is a fierce guardian spirit.
I thought the skunk with her own perfume brand was quite well done. There were a number of puns for the perfume names, such as Skunk ‘n’ Roses, Black Diamond, No. 30 (for the 30 floats in the parade), Amis des Fleurs, Nuite d’ete Sensuelle (sensual summer night), and more.
Did a fertility clinic create this one? It appears to involve a woman receiving an implanted embryo.
King Kong comes with a load of weaponry.
A Japanese bushido warrior shoots arrows while astride his faithful warhorse.
And the parade ended with a pig roasting on a spit.
The Bloemencorso is held annually on the second Sunday in September. Loenhout is approximately 20 miles northeast of Antwerp. Tickets to the parade area were 10 euros. We also paid an additional 10 euros so we could sit in the grandstand instead of standing along the street. The parade went around the town twice, so one tip would be to stand near the beginning of the parade route during the second round when it’s less crowded.