Cal Poly Universities Win Leishman Public Spirit Award for 76th Rose Float
Cal Poly Universities’ Rose Float, “Nessie’s Lakeside Laughs” won the Leishman Public Spirit Award today in the 136th Rose Parade.
The 2025 entry, which marked the 76th Rose Float that Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students have designed and built since the campuses began collaborating in 1949, was rewarded by the judges for the most outstanding floral presentation from a non-commercial participant. The is the 63rd award for the Rose Float team and third Leishman Public Spirit Award.
To capture the parade’s theme,“Best Day Ever,” the 55-foot-long, 21-foot-high and 17-foot-wide float depicted an animated lakeside party featuring puffins sliding down Nessie’s fin, beavers crafting with found driftwood, a Scottish terrier riding a paddleboat on the Loch, and a smiling Highland cow spinning in an innertube.
This year, the animations were controlled by the team’s newly designed and built animation system. Most of the mechanisms were powered hydraulically with smaller elements controlled through electric power. Nessie thrilled the crowd by moving her neck and head to survey her friends sliding, paddling and playing in the water. To help bring the scene to life, the design used florals and dry plant materials, including blooms such as irises, roses and baby’s breath. Other dry materials used included black moss, cotton and coconut husks to cover the land animals.
The process of designing and building the float takes nearly a year and involves building, adjusting and fine-tuning the mechanical, drive and animation systems; welding the structural supports and shaping the design elements; testing decorative material; sheeting and foaming before the students can begin adding final design elements.
Cal Poly Pomona traditionally builds the front half of the float base (known as the pod), while students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo build the back. Design elements are shaped by both teams, who join the two halves in Pomona in the fall. Students continue to build the float throughout the fall semester while balancing their studies and completing final exams until it is ready to join other float entries to be evaluated by Rose Parade judges on Dec. 31.
View past Rose Float entries and awards at www.rosefloat.org.