The San Diego Zoo float took top honors in the 136th Rose Parade on Wednesday, winning the Sweepstakes Award for “most beautiful entry” for the second year in a row.
This year’s float, “Friendship Across the Earth,” featured depictions of Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, the giant panda pair from China who 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 sent to the United States in two decades.
On the float, which was designed by Azusa-based Artistic Entertainment Services and stood more than 50 feet tall, the panda replicas were surrounded by real shoots of black bamboo. They were joined by likenesses of the zoo’s red pandas, Lucas and Adira, as well as a Malayan tiger named Connor.
“Giant pandas have an extraordinary ability to unite us,” said Paul A. Baribault, president and chief executive officer of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, said in a statement. “The symbolic presence of Yun Chuan and Xin Bao at the Rose Parade, a storied New Year’s tradition, celebrates the power of nature and conservation as a unifying force.”
The Tournament of Roses awarded official honors to two dozen floats. The awards and their sponsors are as follows:
— Americana award: Elks U.S.A
— Animation award: City of Burbank
— Bob Hope Humor award: Boys & Girls Club
— Crown City Innovator award: La Cañada Flintridge
— Director award: Explore Louisiana
— Extraordinaire award: One Legacy Donate Life
— Fantasy award: City of South Pasadena
— Founder award: Downey Rose Float Assn.
— Golden State award: Sierra Madre Rose Float Assn.
— Grand Marshal award: Love 2 Yeu
— International award: Coding for Veterans
— Isabella Coleman award: City of Hope
— Judges award: The UPS Store, Inc.
— Leishman Public Spirit award: Cal Poly Universities
— Mayor award: City of Alhambra
— Past President award: Visit Mississippi
— President award: Western Asset
— Princess award: City of Torrance
— Queen award: Shriners Children’s
— Showmanship award: Trader Joe’s
— Sweepstakes award: 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 Began With a Roar,” also won the Sweepstakes Award. It featured an enormous model of a lion named Rex.
