Giant gummy bears sleigh down mounds of ice cream, while other critters play in a sugary wonderland in the 2016 Cal Poly Universities’ Rose Float entry “Sweet Shenanigans.”
The treat-inspired float celebrates the 127th Tournament of Roses Parade theme “Find Your Adventure.” This will be the 68th entry for the Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campuses; the partners have earned 55 awards.
In “Sweet Shenanigans,” planned animation includes a gummy bear throwing snowball-like projectiles on the float, towering gummy bears teetering on a s’mores sled, and other bears that are ice skating, waving and ice-fishing. Waffle-cone mountains, a lollipop forest and oversized berries complete the scenery.
“It’s a labor of love,” said Audrey Doan, design chair for the Cal Poly Pomona committee and float builder. “Those 15 seconds that people see the float going down the parade encompasses everything we work so hard for.”
The design committee, consisting of six members from Pomona and eight from San Luis Obispo, chose “Sweet Shenanigans” among nearly 200 submissions from both campuses. The entries are whittled down to a small concept list. After the winning concept was chosen, a professional graphic artist drew the formal rendering with direction from the design team.
The Cal Poly Universities’ 2015 float entry, “Soaring Stories,” won the Lathrop K. Leishman award for Most Beautiful Non-Commercial Float.
Construction of the float has started at both campuses. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students are expected to move their half of the float to Cal Poly Pomona by late October.
In the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, students and hundreds of volunteers will work feverishly to decorate the float with flowers and other natural materials before the entry is seen by millions of viewers around the world.
For more information or to volunteer to work on the float, contact interim Rose Float Director Janetta McDowell at (909) 869-3204 or jmcdowell@cpp.edu or visit www.rosefloat.org.