Want to design the next winning Rose Parade float? These students can bring your vision to life

The annual Pasadena Rose Parade took place less than a month ago, but at Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, students who are part of the cross-campus Rose Float team are already prepping for 2027.

Now through Feb. 5, the team is accepting design submissions for next year’s float. Community members of all ages are encouraged to apply—and they can make as many submissions as they’d like.

Over the next few months, a fleet of Cal Poly students will bring the winning design to life. The winner will see their work showcased for audiences around the world. They will also have the choice between two tickets to the 2027 parade or a $500 cash prize.

The Cal Poly float design contest is part of a decades-long tradition. Since 1949, students from both campuses have teamed up to create dozens of floats. Last year’s piece, titled “Jungle Jumpstart,” featured a 40-foot robot being tended to by animals as it lay on the rainforest floor.

The Cal Poly universities took top honors for that creation, winning the Sweepstakes Award for “most beautiful entry.”

Every part of the float is done by students, from the construction down to driving the float along Colorado Boulevard, said Allyson Jane Castillo, a mechanical engineering major at Cal Poly Pomona. She’s been part of the Rose Float team at her campus since her freshman year and now serves as its president.

Members of the Cal Poly Rose Float team weld the robot for the 2026 float.

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Cal Poly Pomona

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What happens after you submit?

Bennett Parisi, Castillo’s San Luis Obispo counterpart, is a graduate student in electrical engineering. He said that, each year, the team receives approximately 100 submissions.

But the work actually starts before the submission deadline. In December — before the year is even over, before they even finish the float — the team chooses student leaders from each campus for the following year.

Then, once they select the design in February, the students work on sourcing the materials they need and start building the bones of the float. In the fall, they get down to business to flesh it out.

It can take up to 300 students to bring each float to life, Parisi said. Every fall, students from his campus make a 200-mile trek to Cal Poly Pomona to work on the float on Saturdays. Then, a week before New Year’s Day, the entire fleet heads west to Pasadena, where they stay at a hotel while working on finishing touches.

Parisi joined the team as an undergrad, after being cooped up during the pandemic. He said the group has been a chance to build enduring ties with students from all walks of life at both campuses. Parisi grew up playing team sports, but, in his view, the Rose Float team’s camaraderie is unparalleled.

That’s fitting, because the theme of next year’s parade is “Welcome…celebrating the simple joy of belonging—that feeling that you’re always welcome, no matter who or where you are,” said Terry Madigan, president of the 2027 Tournament of Roses Association in a press statement. “It’s the warmth of family,” he added, “whether related or chosen, the love of good friends and the welcoming embrace of community.”

How to apply

Castillo and Parisi encourage applicants to create designs that align with the theme. They also emphasize that you don’t need to be a great artist to be competitive. Some of the entries they receive are drawn by children, Parisi said.

There is no limit to the number of entries an individual can submit, but these entries can only be submitted to the Cal Poly Rose Float Team.

Submissions can be in color or black and white, no larger than 11-by-17 inches.

Community members must submit their entries to rosefloat@cpp.edu by Feb. 5 at 5 p.m., with the subject line “2027 Concept.” The body of the email should include the applicant’s name, phone number and email address.