Rose Parade float decorators add finishing touches

PASADENA, Calif., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- After months of preparation and millions of roses, volunteers are putting the finishing touches on floral floats for the 127th Tournament of Roses parade.

An estimated 700,000 people will line the streets to watch 44 floats, 19 equestrian teams and 20 bands march the 5 1/2-mile route. Among the floats are two representing the Iowa Hawkeyes and Stanford Cardinals, which are playing in the Rose Bowl Game on Friday.

The parade, this year a partnership between the Tournament of Roses and the National Park Service, will focus on the "Find Your Adventure" theme. Parade rules require, "Every inch of every float must be covered with flowers or other natural materials, such as leaves, seeds or bark." Each float is covered in more flowers than the average florist uses in five years, parade officials said.

The South Pasedena Tournament of Roses Association float "Fishing Follies" will feature a bear and his woodland friends fishing with a fully operational waterfall and stream with 700 gallons of circulating water. South Dakota Department of Tourism's "The Great Faces and Great Places of South Dakota" float will have a replica of the famed Mount Rushmore National Memorial done in fresh and dried flowers. The Lions Clubs International "Camps for All Abilities" float will feature a 19-foot California redwood tree set in a woodland theme.

Among the float awards are Most Beautiful, Best Display of Animation and Most Effective Use and Presentation of Flowers.

The parade will include opening and closing shows and a flyover by the Air Force B-2 Spirit, a stealth bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions.

Filmmaker Ken Burns will serve as the event's grand marshal. This is the final year Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards will host the show.