What to Know
- Dec. 26-31
- Commercial and self-built floats need decorating volunteers
- Be sure to look up the times, dates, and volunteer needs of your desired float before heading out to decorate
How nimble are your fingers feeling these days?
You've tied a number of ribbons and stuck various pieces of tape to various pieces of wrapping paper and twisted the little wires that keep ornaments attached to various branches.
Your fingertips are clearly in a state of peak performance, which means you're ready for your next challenge: Helping a Rose Parade float cross the decoration-focused finish line.
Well, okay, you're right: There are no actual finish lines when it comes to the famous New Year's Day floats, even though they travel the same route each year (so, yes, you could argue that the spot where the parade finishes, near Villa Street and Sierra Madre Boulevard, is a finish line of sorts).
But the volunteers who gamely cover these beautiful behemoths in all sorts of natural items, from seed pods to rice, know that another important finish line has to be reached before New Year's Eve: Finishing the decorating of a float.
Are you interested in volunteering on a 2020 Tournament of Roses Float?
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Deco Week, which is the week ahead of New Year's Day, officially kicks off on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2019.
That means several companies and organizations will need your help in pushing their grand creations, works of arts that have taken months to come together structurally, past the proverbial finish line.
Schedules will vary in the coming days, as will the need for volunteers, but if you've got a particular float or group in mind that you'd like to assist, reach out and find out what the group's urgent float-decorating needs might be.
This list contains both commercial builders as well as a number of self-built floats.
Early sign-ups may be closed for several organizations, but some floats do have walk-in options, if you'd like to simply show up and pitch in.
Read all before going to wherever your dream float is currently stationed, and know that you may get your clothes a bit messy while there, as this is true hands-on work.
But aren't your fingers ready for the challenge? And your heart and mind, too?
The end of the year draws near, and Deco Week is here to remind us that there is still some merry decorating to do, even as our holiday must-dos wrap up.
