What a fascinating talk we enjoyed on Friday by Tim Estes, President of Fiesta Floats.  Fiesta designs and builds parade floats for corporate clients.  About 75% of his work is done for Rose Parade clients, the balance for parades around the world.  As a result of the company’s meticulous attention to detail in engineering, animation and hydraulics, they have been awarded (among others) 18 Sweepstakes Winners by the Tournament of Roses Association.  The very first question for Tim was “How does the driver see”?  The response was, “he doesn’t”!  Each entry has an observer perched somewhere on the float with a birds eye view and a headset to communicate with the driver.  The driver is typically situated under the floral display for two and a half hours and can only see the pink line painted in the middle of Colorado Blvd., and must listen intently to the observer for commands of left, right, stop, go, etc.

The process starts with the concept stage fifteen months prior to the Rose Parade.  There are over three hundred concepts completed by February, when sales to corporate clients begin.  For instance, Dole Foods wanted a Thailand concept with three water falls, misting areas and a huge mountain that must be able to collapse (in 60 seconds) under the 16’6” overpass at Sierra Madre Blvd. in able to make it to the post parade area in east Pasadena.  Tim is currently designing a float for Natural Balance, the well-known dog food company.  It will weigh about 55 tons (110,000 lbs.) due to the water on board used to create waves while motoring down Colorado Blvd.  Its title will be “Surf’s Up”, and a wave machine powered by a huge generator (covered with flowers) will create waves for dogs to surf across. Underneath all this will be a three-axle semi truck and trailers stretching close to 100 feet.

This year there will be 45 float entries designed by three float building companies and various independents, i.e., Cal Poly, Sierra Madre, So.Pasadena, etc.  With a 67% overall winning average and a 75% current winning average Tim Estes and Fiesta Floats is sure to offer us his very best design concepts and beautiful floral displays once again.

(Pat Dolphin)