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Floats for the New Year's Day Tournament of Roses Parade evolved from flower-decorated horse carriages. The carriages evolved into floats. The floats are required to be covered with plant material, living or dead.[1] Originally Tournament of Roses floats were created solely by volunteers from sponsoring communities. Currently, most are built by professional float building companies, and take nearly a year to construct. Some communities and organizational sponsors still rely on volunteers.
The 2010 parade floats included Boy Scouts of America, Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles, New Mexico Tourism Department, Phoenix Satellite Television (U.S.) Inc., Roundtable of Southern California/Shanghai World Expo, and Safety Harbor Kids. The 2010 parade also featured a 113-foot-long (34 m) float from Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Pet Foods, which set a Guinness world record for longest single-chassis float. The City of West Covina paid tribute to the "service and commitment of the Tuskegee Airmen" with a float, entitled "Tuskegee Airmen – A Cut Above", which featured a large bald eagle, two replica World War II "Redtails" fighter planes and historical images of some of the airmen who served their country. The float won the Mayor's trophy as the most outstanding city entry – national or international.
Directly after the parade, floats are stripped to their chassis. Structural steel elements are reused where possible; organic materials and sculptural steel are recycled.
Shortly after each year's parade is over, and the next year's parade theme is announced, the parade sponsors and participating communities start to plan their floats for the following year. A "theme draft" meeting is held in mid-February where builders select their float theme. The Tournament assures that there are not too many similar floats.
Characters and other objects on the float are created as separate elements to add later, consisting of a framework of steel and chicken wire. The chassis has beams and steel rod welded to it to support a mesh cover. The float is then "cocooned" in the next process; it is sprayed with a polyvinyl material which acts as a base for inserting decoration. This base is painted with the colors of the flowers to be applied to the float.
Every square inch of the exposed surface of a float entered in the Rose Parade strictly must be covered with flowers or other natural materials. These other decorative applicants include bark, seed and leaves. Decorating with the non-perishable materials is performed first. In the days following Christmas, the live additions to the float are applied by volunteers or hired workers. Many people end each day covered in glue and petals. Delicate flowers are placed in individual vials of water and set into the float one-by-one. The Tournament of Roses is the largest consumer of flowers in the world, and flowers arrive from all over the world.
Many floats, along with their drive train, include computer-controlled robotic mechanisms to animate the floats. Most float drivers can only see the ground below them. An observer communicates by intercom to the driver. Most observers are hidden within the float and have limited visibility. Each float has a Tournament Member (Float Liaison) assigned to it who shepherds the float from the float barn to the formation area and down the parade route. Most ride on motor scooters although some walk. The Float Liaisons communicate with the float's observer by hand signals. At the two corners other Tournament Members direct the floats in addition to the Float Liaisons.
It is estimated that it takes 60 volunteers working 10 hours a day for 10 days to decorate one float.[2]
After Christmas one can view many of the floats being decorated with flowery mantles, in the various "float barns" that dot the Pasadena area and communities to the east. Last-minute volunteering opportunities are sometimes available (though most builders recommend advance registration); if you are willing to volunteer, you just might find a crew willing to hand you a box of flowers (or a broom) and put you right to work!
Admission is charged for viewing the floats at the various sites. The four float decorating places are Rose Palace, Rosemont Pavilion, Brookside Pavilion, and the Irwindale Pavilion, in the City of Irwindale, California.
Approximately 120,000 visitors attended the three-day event in 2009.
While many distinct changes have taken place with the Festival's floats, including computer-aided movement and professional float building, the floats have kept true to the event's title and heritage, by using real, fresh flowers. The cost of flowers is included in the total cost of the float and paid for by the float sponsor.
In the old days, some of the flowers used on the floats were home grown in the former Fanny Morrison Horticultural Center, now the Kidspace Children's Museum in the Arroyo Seco Natural Park.[4].
Presented by Bayer Advanced, the Showcase is a paid admission area where the floats are displayed after the parade, for close-up viewing. The floats are parked along Sierra Madre and Washington Boulevards in Pasadena, near Pasadena High School and Victory Park, for three hours after the parade. On the day after the parade (occasionally two days when January 3 falls on Saturday or Sunday), the first two early morning hours (7-9) are reserved for seniors and the disabled, and the rest of day's worth of viewing for the general public.
There were three days of viewing in 2010, Jan. 1 (1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.), Jan. 2 and 3.
A fair-like environment with food and souvenir vending stands is created for public enjoyment. Handicap access and assistance is provided. Some of the animated floats are put on display with their animation running. Unfortunately, as time goes on the flowers wilt and thus the best viewing is right after the parade.
Three civic and floral industry leaders evaluate the floats and hand out prizes to the participating floats in 24 categories. The top prize for the parade is the Sweepstakes Trophy, the most beautiful entry, which in 2008 was won by Rain Bird International's entry of "Preservation Celebration", built by Fiesta Parade Floats[5]. Judges:
Judging occurs on the two days before the parade. In the first day's judging, the float is viewed "at rest", without any animation, sound, or riders. The float builder is allowed to explain the float to the judges before the judges begin their examination. In the second judging, the float is judged as it will be presented in the parade, with all animation, riders, outwalkers, and effects. Each judging session lasts five minutes.
Floats are judged in 14 categories, with varying weights; the most important categories are those relating to floral usage. Winners are announced at 6 AM on parade day.
The 2009 Sweepstakes Trophy winner for the "most beautiful entry with outstanding floral presentation and design" was again participant Rain Bird Corporation and its builder Fiesta Parade Floats. The theme of the Rain Bird float was Entertaining Expedition. The "Most Beautiful Non-Commercial" Lathrop K. Leishman trophy went to the City of Sierra Madre and the Sierra Madre Rose Float Association's self built Bollywood Dreams.
The Rain Bird float won the 2010 Sweepstakes Trophy entitled Mountaintop Majesty and the City of Torrance won the Leishman trophy for its Garden of Dreams float. Both floats were built by Fiesta Parade Floats.
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