A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind. In British English, the term 'parade' is usually reserved for either military parades or other occasions where participants march in formation; for celebratory occasions, the word procession is more usual. In the Canadian Forces, the term also has several less formal connotations.
Lichtenvoorde is a town in the east of the Netherlands, in the municipality of Oost Gelre.
Zundert is a municipality and town in the south of the Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. Zundert is the birthplace of post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.
The Rose Parade, hosted by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, is an annual parade to mark the start of the Rose Bowl Game, held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, on New Year's Day. Produced by the non-profit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, the parade usually starts at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC–8), and includes flower-covered floats, marching bands, and equestrian units. The parade is followed in the afternoon by the Rose Bowl, one of the major bowl games in college football. It has been uninterrupted despite both World Wars.
Vollenhove is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Steenwijkerland, southwest of Steenwijk. Until the Noordoostpolder was drained, it was located on the coast of the Zuiderzee.
The Jersey Battle of Flowers is an annual carnival held in the Channel Island of Jersey on the second Thursday of August. The festival consists of music, funfairs, dancers, majorettes and a parade of flower floats alongside various street entertainers. It was inaugurated in 1902 to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. The largest attendance to date is thought to be that of 1969 when 60,000 people were present. Current spectator numbers are around 20,000.
A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle like a truck or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, the Carnival in São Paulo, the Carnival of Viareggio, the Maltese Carnival, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Key West Fantasy Fest parade, the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the 500 Festival Parade in Indianapolis, the United States Presidential Inaugural Parade, and the Tournament of Roses Parade. For the latter event, floats are decorated entirely in flowers or other plant material.
The Singapore National Day Parade is a national ceremony in Singapore that, as its name implies, includes a parade on Singapore's National Day on August 9, in commemoration of Singapore's independence that is usually held at the Float @Marina Bay, various decentralized venues all over Singapore, Padang and the National Stadium.
Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde is a part of the municipality of Dendermonde in the Denderstreek in East Flanders in Belgium, a typical agricultural village in the Dendervallei near the junction of the railroads to Ghent, Mechelen and Brussels.
The Patras Carnival, Patrino karnavali is the largest event of its kind in Greece and one of the biggest in Europe. It has more than 180 years of history. The events begin on 17 January and last up to Clean Monday. The carnival of Patras is not a single event but a variety of events that includes balls, parades, hidden treasure hunt and the children's carnival amongst others. It climaxes in the last weekend of Carnival with the Saturday evening parade of carnival groups, the extravagant Sunday parade of floats and groups, and finally the ritual burning of the carnival king at the St. Nikolaos Street pier in the harbour of Patras. Its characteristics are spontaneity, improvisation, inspiration and volunteerism.
Mardi Gras is the annual Carnival celebration in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the oldest annual Carnival celebration in the United States, started by Frenchman Nicholas Langlois in 1703 when Mobile was the capital of Louisiana. This was fifteen years before New Orleans was founded, although today their celebrations are much more widely known for all the current traditions such as masked balls, parades, floats and throws were first created there. From Mobile being the first capital of French Louisiana (1702), the festival began as a French Catholic tradition. Mardi Gras in Mobile has now evolved into a mainstream multi-week celebration across the spectrum of cultures in Mobile, becoming school holidays for the final Monday and Tuesday, regardless of religious affiliation.
Bloemencorso means "flower parade", "flower pageant" or "flower procession". In a parade of this kind the floats (praalwagens), cars and boats are magnificently decorated or covered in flowers. This custom goes back as far as the middle ages. Each parade has its own character, charm and theme. Many towns and regions in the Netherlands and Belgium hold parades every year.
Amsterdam Pride or Amsterdam Gay Pride is a citywide gay-festival held annually at the center of Amsterdam during the first weekend of August. The festival attracts several hundred-thousand visitors each year and is one of the largest publicly held annual events in the Netherlands.
The Fiestas del Pilar are an annual festival celebrated in the city of Zaragoza, Aragon, in honour of the patron saint of the city, the Virgen del Pilar. The week long festival takes places every year, usually, beginning the weekend of or before 12 October, and lasts until the following Sunday.
The Duin- en Bollenstreek is a region in the western Netherlands, that features coastal dunes and the cultivation of flower bulbs. Situated at the heart of historical Holland nearby the city Leiden, South Holland, and boundered by The Hague and Haarlem, the combination of beaches, flower fields, lakes and history makes this area attractive to tourists.
A flower parade is a parade in which the floats, vehicles, boats, participants, animals and other things are decorated or covered in flowers. Often there are other elements like marching bands and people in costumes. Flower parades are held in several countries, many of which celebrate the forthcoming of the seasons. The oldest flower parade dates back to the 1800s.
Tournament of Roses Parade floats are flower-covered parade floats, used in the annual New Year's Day Tournament of Roses Parade held in Pasadena, California. They evolved from flower-decorated horse carriages with the present day requirement that "every inch of every float must be covered with flowers or other natural materials, such as leaves, seeds or bark". Three civic and floral industry leaders judge the floats and award prizes in 24 categories.
The Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride Festival is an annual series of events which celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) life in Dublin, Ireland. It is the largest LGBTQ+ pride festival on the island of Ireland. The festival culminates in a pride parade which is held annually on the last Saturday in June. The event has grown from a one-day event in 1974 to a ten-day festival celebrating LGBT culture in Ireland with an expanded arts, social and cultural content.
Bloemencorso Zundert is the largest flower parade in the world entirely made by volunteers. The parade takes place on the first Sunday of September, in the small town of Zundert in The Netherlands. The floats are large artworks made of steel wire, cardboard, papier-mâché and flowers. In the Bloemencorso Zundert, only dahlias are used to decorate the objects and it takes thousands of them just to cover one float. Around 8 million dahlias are needed for the entire corso. Of these, around 6 million are cultivated in Zundert. It was founded in 1936.
Bloemencorso Bollenstreek is one of the flower parades in the Netherlands and one of the largest editions of the world. The event takes place in the end of April, The route starts on Saturday in Noordwijk and ends in the city of Haarlem the day after.
