PASADENA, Calif. – As the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and our nationwide community of partners enter the final stretch leading up to the 2023 Rose Parade presented by Honda, we are excited to offer another sneak peek of floral float entries that will captivate audiences on Monday, January 2, 2023.
Since the first Rose Parade in 1890, each float entry presents a unique theme and visual story that bring their float to life. The theme of the 134th Rose Parade — “Turning the Corner” – is reflected in the official renderings for float participants including three first time entries.
Their symbolic and spectacular storytelling will be embraced by millions of streetside and broadcast viewers from across the country and around the world as we celebrate America’s New Year Celebration® together.
Building Industry Association of Southern California
2023 commemorates the centennial year for the Building Industry Association of Southern California. The leading advocate for thousands of building industry leaders committed to building for the future, their float shares its vision for the inclusive future of housing for all. Designed by the Junior Builders program of children ages 10 to 15, this vibrant float colorfully illustrates the past, present and future of home building while protecting our environment and natural resources. Fiesta Parade Floats created a young girl, delighting in the hope of one day owning her own home while watching it come to life on the blueprints on which she happily daydreams.
City of Hope
City of Hope’s 49th Rose Parade float entry, “Expanding Hope,” represents increasing national patient access to world-class cancer care and research. City of Hope is one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a leading research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses. The 45-foot long and nearly 17-foot-tall City of Hope float, built by Phoenix Decorating Company, will feature animated butterflies, which are symbols of hope and transformation. A tree represents transformation as well as physical and spiritual nourishment. The bridges represent City of Hope bridging the health disparities gap in health care and expanding its geographical footprint, which now includes Cancer Treatment Centers of America. This year, as cancer survivors and their doctors riding the float turn the corner together, they share in the hope, beauty and joy of what 2023 will bring.
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente’s float, “All of us for all of you,” illustrates how it feels to have a connected, compassionate care team supported by research, technology and innovation. It’s a vision of their commitment to caring for you at every step of your health care journey—and empowering you to live your best, healthiest life. Kaiser Permanente is committed to enabling coordination of in-person, digital and virtual care delivery—surrounding you with personalized support where, when and how you need it. Their model of care and coverage together means they are always connected to you, and their teams of experts to each other. In the series of vignettes, you’ll see ordinary and extraordinary moments made possible by next-generation care: a quiet connection between a member and a nurse; a mother cradling her newborn baby; a cancer survivor getting back on the bike for the first time. At Kaiser Permanente, they believe you deserve inclusive and affirming health care that reflects all of who you are today and embraces all that you’ll become tomorrow. They’re with you and support you at every moment of your health journey—all working together to care for all that is you.
La Cañada Flintridge
La Cañada Flintridge’s self-built float is a labor of love for this city located in the foothills of California’s Verdugo mountains. This year watch Michael Raccoon and his furry family discover some Secondhand Shenanigans at their human neighbor’s yard sale. Michael delights in memories of his amateur magician youth, complete with a bow tie of rose petals, while his wife, Mary, gleefully works the remote-controlled car she’d always wanted as a little girl. When she turns her head will she see the disappearing rabbit made of bunnytail grass? Daughter Zoe Raccoon lives her engineering dreams building a model car racetrack, while brother Ethan finds a jersey made with yellow and red strawflowers that’s just his style. La Cañada Flintridge’s float reminds us that each chapter of our lives might shed a stage of life, but it turns a corner into something else that’s new and exciting.
Louisiana Travel
Don’t look now, but there’s a riverboat heading down Orange Grove and Colorado Boulevards. With a fully functioning paddlewheel turning through real water below, the Bayou State wants you to come aboard so they can Feed Your Soul on the food, music, and diverse culture of Louisiana. This unique float reflects the unique blend of cultures that make Louisiana a state like no other. From zydeco music to swamp pop, from its Italian heritage to its African, and from gumbo to beignets, the wide-ranging, global influences on Louisiana make its rich culture so compelling. It’s the passion of its people, however, that is so well-captured in the spirit of this float. Riders and walkers represent the more than 400 festivals celebrated in Louisiana every year. The COVID-19 pandemic saw universal cancellations at the height of the festival season, but the state persevered through the unprecedented hardship. Louisiana Tourism has turned a corner with the return of not just Mardi Gras, but so many festivals represented by their float’s riders and walkers. Can you find the celebrations of Tangipahoa Parish’s fresh strawberry crop amongst the thousands of stunning blooms? What about the annual Christmas festival in Natchitoches (made famous by the film Steel Magnolias)? Don’t forget to listen, too, as the float features singer and Louisianan Lainey Wilson.
Rose Bowl Stadium/Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation
What better way for this National Historic Landmark – one of only four stadiums with that distinction in the country – to celebrate its centennial year than here at the Rose Parade! As the proud home to the Tournament of Roses’ Rose Bowl Game, the float’s floral replica of the stadium is truly a visual rhapsody of floral master craft. Beginning with the iconic Rose Bowl field complete with the historic venue’s game-ready sod and Rose Bowl 100 logo, hundreds of fans made of individually placed flowers can be seen cheering on their teams from the stands. The historic Rose Bowl sign with its traditional Pasadena Rose is presented mid-float. Gigantic roses and palm trees surround the proud home of concerts, the UCLA Bruins football, Premier League soccer matches and the World’s Largest Flea Market. The Rose Bowl Game trophy towers over the stadium. Named for 1920 Tournament of Roses President, William L. Leishman, the prestigious Leishman Trophy celebrates the game that is “The Granddaddy of Them All.”
Snapchat
Snapchat brings people of all ages together to see and experience the world in a way they haven’t seen before – and it’s the easiest platform to create enviable content. One of Snapchat’s most well-known features is their suite of Augmented Reality Lenses, which help create fun, easy and endlessly entertaining ways to connect with friends, family and the world. Their float ‘Wait’ll You See This’ depicts a collection of 6 of their most popular Augmented Reality Lenses that you can try on Snapchat right now. These Lenses, as well as many other useful features, encourage self-expression, learning, play, creativity and spontaneity, which leads to more meaningful conversations with loved ones. They’re also just really, really fun to play with. This is Snapchat’s first year at the Rose Parade, but they’ve been creating buzzworthy, ‘wait’ll-you-see-this’ type moments both big and small for over 11 years. And they’re just getting started!
Join us on Monday, January 2, 2023, to experience the awe and wonder of the floats, bands and equestrian units of the 134th Rose Parade presented by Honda. The Tournament of Roses has had a “Never on Sunday” tradition since 1893, the first year the Rose Parade fell on a Sunday, and the tradition remains to this day.
Source: Tournament of Roses