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Tournament of Roses
391 South Orange Grove Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91184
Ph: (626) 449-4100
Fax: (626) 449-9066
E-mail: rosepr@earthlink.net
 
Float Decorating

Decorating a Rose Parade Float
Decorating a
Rose Parade Float

Presented by Bayer Advanced:

Date: TBA
Time: TBA
Location: Various - see below
Admission: Advance tickets are available through Sharp Seating Company at (626) 795-4171

Come and experience the magic of the Rose Parade floats before New Year's Day! To see some of these magnificent floral floats in their final stages of preparation for the Rose Parade, visit any of our four locations. You will see a variety of fruit, seeds, bark, grasses and of course, breathtaking flowers being applied to the floats by hard working volunteers as well as experienced professionals.

Located at the Rose Bowl Stadium:

  • Rosemont Pavilion
    700 Seco St., Pasadena
  • Brookside Pavilion (accessible to mobility-impaired viewers)
    South side of Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena

Located nearby:

  • Rose Palace
    835 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena
  • Buena Vista Pavilion (accessible to mobility-impaired viewers)
    2144 Buena Vista, (City of Hope) Duarte

Additional Information:

Decorating a float
Decorating a float

The Rose Parade's elaborate floats have come a long way since the Tournament's early days. Today, float building is a multi-million dollar business. Although a few floats are built solely by volunteers from their sponsoring communities, most are built by professional float building companies.

Float construction begins shortly after the previous year's Parade is over. The process starts with a specially built chassis, upon which is built a framework of steel and chicken wire. In a process called "cocooning", the frame is sprayed with a polyvinyl material, which is then painted in the colors of the flowers to be applied later. Every inch of the float must be covered with flowers or other natural materials, such as leaves, seeds, or bark. Volunteer workers swarm over the floats in the days after Christmas, their hand and clothes covered with glue and petals. The most delicate flowers are placed in individual vials of water, which are set into the float one by one.

Building a Rose Parade float
Building a Rose Parade float

Computerized animation has had an enormous impact on Rose Parade floats. Recent Parade floats have featured working roller coasters, a 50-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty, a robotic chef with moving arms, a working water slide and more, all controlled by computers. But through all the changes, the Rose Parade has remained true to its floral beginnings, and each float is decorated with more flowers than the average florist will use in five years.

If you are interested in taking part in the decoration of one of these floral beauties, please contact one of the float builders listed below for volunteer information.

To volunteer to decorate a float, please contact the float builders directly:

Self-built float organizations:

Come and experience the magic of the Rose Parade floats before New Year's Day! To see some of these magnificent floral floats in their final stages of preparation for the Rose Parade, visit any of our four locations. You will see a variety of fruit, seeds, bark, grasses and of course, breathtaking flowers being applied to the floats by hard working volunteers as well as experienced professionals.

 
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