The San Diego Zoo float took top honors in the 136th Rose Parade on Wednesday, winning the Sweepstakes award for “best entry” for the second year in a row.
This year’s float, “Friendship Around the World,” featured images of Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, China’s giant pandas that made their public debut at the zoo in August.
Yun Chuan, a 5-year-old male, and Xin Bao, a 4-year-old female, were the first pandas to be shipped to the United States in two decades.
On the float, which was designed by Azusa-based Artistic Entertainment Services and stands more than 50 feet tall, replica pandas are surrounded by real black bamboo shoots. They are joined by the zoo’s red panda lookalikes, Lucas and Adira, and a Malaysian tiger named Connor.
“Giant pandas have an amazing ability to bring us together,” said Paul A. Baribault, president and CEO of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, in a statement. “The symbolic presence of Yun Chuan and Xin Bao in the Rose Parade, a popular New Year’s tradition, celebrates the power of nature and conservation as a unifying force.”
The Tournament of Roses has officially awarded two floats. The awards and their sponsors are as follows:
– Americana Award: Elks USA
– Animation Award: City of Burbank
– Bob Hope Humor Award: Boys & Girls Club
– Crown City Innovator Award: La Cañada Flintridge
– Director’s Award: Explore Louisiana
– Medal Extraordinaire: One Legacy Donate Life
– Dream prize: City of South Pasadena
– Founder’s Award: Downey Rose Float Assn.
– Golden State Medal: Sierra Madre Rose Float Assn.
– Grand Marshal Medal: Love 2 Yeu
– International award: Coding for Veterans
– Isabella Coleman Award: City of Hope
– Jury Award: The UPS Store, Inc.
– Leishman Public Spirit Award: Cal Poly Universities
– Mayor’s Award: City of Alhambra
– Past President’s Award: Visit Mississippi
– President’s Award: Western Property
– Princess Award: City of Torrance
– Queen’s Medal: Shriners Children’s
– Showmanship Award: Trader Joe’s
– Sweepstakes Prize: San Diego Zoo
– Theme award: Pasadena Humane/Hill’s Pet Nutrition
– Tournament Volunteer Award: Rotary
– Wrigley Legacy Award: Kaiser Permanente
Last year, the San Diego Zoo’s float, “It Started with a Roar,” also won a Sweepstakes award. It had a large statue of a lion named Rex.
Source link
