Aquatic Aspirations

Drawing
An artist rendering of this year's float features a submarine exploring sea life living in an old shipwreck. The float will appear at the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day.

While last year’s Rose Float team was inspired by space exploration, this year’s team has decided to return to earth, with a float featuring exotic ocean exploration.

This year’s entry for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association’s annual Rose Parade, as shown in an artist rendering, will feature a submarine navigating around a sunken shipwreck that has become home to colorful marine wildlife. The title of the float, “Aquatic Aspirations,” was announced over the weekend, though it was actually decided a few months ago.

“This year, we started our concept contest in January, where we collect concepts from the community and our team,” said Sydney Strong, president of the Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo team.

The San Luis Obispo campus works on the float year-round with a team of students from Cal Poly, Pomona. After getting 110 concepts, the Cal Poly Universities Float team narrowed the list to five and ranked them, before sending to the Tournament of Roses, which has to approve. The organization had previously set this year’s theme: The Power of Hope.

The Cal Poly team is coming off a successful year. Last year’s rockin’ space-themed float, “Far Out Frequencies,” won the prestigious Extraordinaire Award – the first time Cal Poly had received the honor.

Read the full story HERE.

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