Student builders on the Cal Poly Universities Rose Float Team have released their entry for the 136th Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1, 2025.
The rendering depicts an animated lakeside party featuring a Loch Ness monster named Nessie.
Puffins are pictured sliding down Nessie's fin. The work also includes beavers, a Scottish terrier riding a paddle boat, and a smiling Highland cow spinning in an intertube.
The work has been entitled "Nessie's Lakeside Laughs."
It aligns with the theme of this year's Rose Parade which is "Best Day Ever!"
“The inspiration for this float comes from that place of terrifying wonder, when you discover something new and end up enjoying it to the fullest,” said Pomona team president Brooke Handschin, a mechanical engineering senior, and San Luis Obispo team president Collin Marfia in a joint statement.
The Cal Poly Universities Rose Float is the only student-designed float in the whole parade, according to Cal Poly officials.
Student teams from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and Cal Poly, Pomona, have been joining forces since 1946.
So far, their floats have earned a total of 62 awards.
Traditionally, Pomona builds the front half of the float base while San Luis Obispo builds the back—design elements are created by both teams.
University officials say the San Luis Obispo campus's portion of construction should be completed by mid-October.
Then the project will be shipped to the Pomona campus where the two halves will be united during an annual ceremony that marks the countdown to the parade.
Students from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, will travel to Pomona each weekend to help install and test their elements.
They will continue to build the float through the fall while balancing studies, until it is ready to be evaluated by Rose Float judges on Dec. 31.
