Local Cal Poly students have already loaded and sent off half of their 2025 Tournament of Roses float to the Pomona campus for the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena.
Cal Poly students are shaping the design elements for next year’s rose float called, “Nessie’s Lakeside Laughs."
Cal Poly Pomona traditionally builds the front half of the float base, while students in San Luis Obispo build the back.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Rose Float president, Colin Marfia, says his team will travel down to Pomona during the fall quarter to work on the float.
“This piece is foundational to having a Rose Parade float,” said Collin Marfia, Cal Poly SLO Rose Float president. “While both halves are incredibly important and make for that large 55-foot-long float, this half actually houses our drive engine, which powers all of our hydraulic drive systems. ... The front half in Pomona just stays stationary until this half gets attached to it.”
Designing and building the float is a year-long process that involves building, adjusting, and fine-tuning the mechanical, welding the structural support and shaping the design, and testing decorative elements.
“We are in a really good place as far as our timeline goes and joining those halves is really where we get to kick off the major start of the process, get to mount all those large elements, and get to see the flow really start to come together,” said Warren Taira, Cal Poly SLO Rose Float construction chair.
The float will depict an animated lakeside party featuring puffins, beavers, and many other animals.
“Nessie's head is going to be looking around the crowd of animals,” said Jessie Elizalde-Rendon, Cal Poly SLO Rose Float design chair. “I like all the friends. The highland cow is going to be in an inner tube, kind of just like on the lazy little circle, kind of just spinning around. The boat in the front's going to be rocking a bit and the dogs are going to be wagging their tail."
Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, students and volunteers will work to cover every inch of the float with flowers and other materials before the entry is unveiled to millions of viewers.
