A Tale of Two Floats

 

On a sunny, Chamber of Commerce day just outside the shadow of the Rose Bowl, the Singpoli Group’s first ever float — Connecting Cultures Delivering Dreams — made its way south to its initial destination of Orange Grove before it goes on to Colorado Blvd. to over 700,000 spectators.

Real orange trees, stunning floral and petal arraignments, cumquat’s and other essential floery items make this a real treat for parade goers. Singpoli presents a truly extraordinary floral display. A dazzling array of orchids cascades from the flowering trees, including a dendrobium, cattleya, mocara, phalaenopsis and vanda orchids in rich purple hues. Velvety carnations create the crimson walls of the Chinese architecture and strawflower petals suggest golden tile roof tops.

The float builder is Paradiso Parade Floats and Singpoli’s inaugural float in the Tournament of Roses embodies the elegance, quality and creativity for which the company is known.

This stunning design shows off a pair of magnificent “tianma” or “heavenly seeds” soaring over golden rooftops and lush gardens. According to legend, tianma were the swiftest and most beautiful of horses. They beame the favorite mounts of the Emperor and the Chinese court. As eastern counterparts of the western Pegasus, the tianma symbolize Singpoli’s commitment of being energetic, bright , warm-hearted, and to bring dreams together by bringing cultures together. This years theme of Dreams Come True certainly applies to this visually stunning float; it will certainly be one that will catch the judges’ eye.

This float was naturally watched by many as it made its way away from the Rose Bowl staging grounds.

Jenny Wu 36, from nearby South Pasadena remarked on the float ” I love to see how much energy and time they are spending on this float. You can really see that spirit in the beauty of this float”.

In addition, tens of thousands of scarlet roses carpet the landscape while elegant sprays of hundreds of anthurium, ginger, protea, calathea and heliconia provide exotic accents. Pristine coconut flakes accented with dendrobium orchid florets give the tianma their snowy white appearance. The wings of the tianma animate to a spectacular wingspan of 22 feet. A special variance was secured to allow the float to animate beyond the prescribed 18 foot maximum.

Also making its way towards the Tournament House was Public Storages Float “Adventures in Space.” It is their first float as well and is quite stunning in its own right. It is light hearted and plain fun, with its trio of fun loving extraterrestrials steering a gigantic spacecraft through the beautiful streets of Pasadena. The spacecraft also has more than 50,00 carnations adorned onto its main frame. Spoiler alert! The float will feature a big suprise that will remain secret until the day of the parade. Paradiso Floats also constructed this work of art.

With this the 125th anniversary of the Rose Parade, and so many eye-catching floats, this will certainly be a milestone year and one to remembered for years to come. An enormous amount of gratitude goes to all of the volunteers who worked tirelessly to bring so much joy to not only the parade goers, but to the millions of viewers around the world. Stay safe and have fun Pasadena!