Cal Poly has an award-winning float in the Tournament of Roses Parade once again.
The Float, “called "Road to Reclamation," was awarded with the Extraordinaire Trophy for most extraordinary float.
The Cal Poly Rose Float team's entry in the parade will be the first of the judged floats to roll down Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena on Monday and the fourth overall entry in the parade, immediately following the Marine Corps color guard and marching band, according to Cal Poly.
This is Cal Poly's 74th entry in the Rose Parade.
Since their first parade entry in 1949, the Cal Poly Rose Float team has won 61 awards, including the Animation Award for their "Stargrazers" float in the 2022 Rose Parade.
Every year, students at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo work with students at Cal Poly Pomona to create a float for the Rose Parade. Half of the float is built in San Luis Obispo and the other half is built in Pomona.
In October, the San Luis Obispo half was transported to Pomona where the two pieces were joined together.
The float portrays giant snails, mushrooms and colorful fungi "transforming a dead tree branch into a catalyst for new life."
Purple carnations were used for a vibrant look on the snails. Other materials include seeds, mums, cabbage, carnations, roses and oranges, according to Cal Poly. Cornhusks were sewn together to make the mushroom gills and coverage the branch on the float was tree bark.
Four operators helped control the float.
The float was designed to reflect the parade's theme, "Turning the Corner," which is meant to symbolize the positive change and unlimited potential that each new year can bring.
While the Tournament of Roses Parade typically takes place on New Year's Day, it is being held on January 2 because January 1 happens to fall on a Sunday.
You can watch the parade begin at 8 a.m. on KSBY.
