An award-winning float builder was dropped by the Tournament of Roses on Monday after they failed to meet the standards expected of New Year’s Day participants.
Fiesta Parade Floats, one of only three approved commercial float builders, will not participate in the 2025 Rose Parade following the association’s announcement.
Now the Phoenix Decorating Company in Irwindale is preparing for even more floats than usual, with 10 already in the works.
“It’s sad news,” said Chris Lofthouse, the president and CEO of Phoenix Decorating. “This is a small industry, it’s a tight-knit industry. It’s sad, it’s a tough industry.”
In response, they are now working to complete their smaller projects so they can prepare for more work, including projects already outsourced to Fiesta Parade Floats.
Pasadena Tournament of Roses CEO David Eads says it was a difficult decision to make after more than 40 years with the company.
“We have criteria for float builders that are required of all our commercial builders,” Eads said. “Fiesta no longer met our criteria for commercial builders.”
Part of that criteria includes having the financial capacity to continue creating floats, which Lofthouse said has been a challenge for all companies.
“We’re still recovering from it, now we’re fighting the inflation side of it,” Lofthouse said, noting that the price for things like materials and insurance has skyrocketed. “It’s three times what it was before COVID.”
Floats can cost between $150,000 and $500,000 to make.
Lofthouse says there were six commercial builders working on the parade 20 years ago.
The owner of Fiesta Floats could not be reached for comment at the request of KCAL News.
Jasmine Fell
