Volunteers hard at work with design of Burbank Rose Parade float
It may seem like activity is slow and calm at the Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn.’s float barn during this time of the year, but the group’s president says otherwise.
As Burbank Water and Power does maintenance on the float’s chassis, volunteers are busy finalizing the design and name of the community’s 2019 Rose Parade float to ensure it aligns with next year’s theme, “The Melody of Life.”
“It’s really not a lull,” said Ginny Barnett, president of the Burbank float organization, on Tuesday. “We’re just not moving as fast.”
Work on the next float began even before the last one was finished.
Barnett said the association was already accepting designs for its 2019 float back in November, and the 53 submissions were reviewed in February.
After several weeks of whittling down the entries, the group selected a design created by Brian Cozakos and former Disney artist Adam Ostegard.
Barnett said it was the first time Cozakos won the contest and the fourth win for Ostegard, who also helped design floats for 2016, 2009 and 2007.
The design team started sketching a line drawing of the float, which is called “Stompin’ Good Time,” in March. However, Barnett said although there is a colored rendering of the float, its design has yet to be finalized.
The concept depicts several woodland animals playing in a band. There’s a pig at the front of the float playing a saxophone, a rabbit playing an upright bass and a dog strumming on a banjo.
Barnett said the 2019 float will not be as tall as entries in previous years, and the focus will be more on each of the animals near the front of the float.
2017’s “Home Tweet Home” float had a towering birdhouse toward the back of the float, and the “Sand-Sational Helpers” float this year had a large sand castle at the rear.
As they have done in the past, float organizers will be creating something on the float to honor a member of the community, and this year it will be the late Mayor Will Rogers, who died in April after battling stage 4 liver cancer.
Barnett said it was difficult for designers to come up with a way to pay homage to the late Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher with the 2017 float. However, the remaining seven months to complete the next float will provide more than enough time for designers to come up with a way to pay tribute to the late mayor.
“We don’t know how we’re going to do that yet, but we’re looking for some way to place something for him on the float,” she said.
The Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn. is always looking for volunteers throughout the year. Those who are interested in helping with the float can visit burbankrosefloat.com and sign up for the organization’s mailing list.
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
