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Design submissions sought for Burbank’s 2018 Rose Parade float

The Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn.'s float "Home Tweet Home" in the 128th Rose Parade on Monday, Jan. 1, 2017. The association is accepting design submissions for next year's float.

The Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn.’s float “Home Tweet Home” in the 128th Rose Parade on Monday, Jan. 1, 2017. The association is accepting design submissions for next year’s float.

(Tim Berger / Burbank Leader)
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With the 2017 Rose Parade in the books, the core volunteers running the Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn. have already started working on next year’s float.

Before they can start welding together the structures and decorating the float, they must first pick a design that coincides with the next year’s theme, and they are looking to the public for ideas.

Burbank residents and anyone living in the region have until Jan. 25 to submit a black and white sketch to the Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn. of a float that would correspond with the 2018 Rose Parade theme hints given by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses — “Making a Difference,” “Acts of Kindness” and “Celebration of Good Things.”

The sketch can be no bigger than 11-by-17 inches.

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Erik Andersen, design contest chair for the association, said that the Pasadena Tournament of Roses won’t announce the theme for next year’s parade until Jan. 20, but he believes people can still submit good concepts and designs with just the hints given to them.

“There’s a lot of float ideas that you can do with those hints,” he said.

Since the Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn.’s inception in 1914, the organization has always turned to the community for their float design concepts.

Andersen, who has been involved with the Burbank association since 1982, said he and the association’s board members have seen many floats over the years. Some concepts, such as those featuring a dragon, have been done many times in the past.

“We always try to look for something new that we haven’t done before,” he said. “The dragon float that was there this year was great, but it’s been done before. We look at the past parades for inspiration, but we try to pick something original.”

Though there are many residents in the community with some kind of artistic background, Andersen said that people who think they can’t draw but have a good concept for a float should submit their design regardless of how it looks.

“If you feel that you’re not an artist, don’t let that hold you back,” he said. “A simple line drawing can go a long way. One year, we had a stick-figure sketch of three sailboats and that ended up becoming a great float. And make sure your description conveys the idea and how it fits the theme.”

To submit an entry to the Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn.’s float design contest, visit burbankrosefloat.com.

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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio

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