With more than 800,000 spectators expected in Pasadena on Monday, January 1, 2024, at the 135th Rose Parade® presented by Honda, Greater Fort Lauderdale’s diversity and creativity are unfolding on Visit Lauderdale’s spectacular float in the Rose Parade®. Living proof of the destination’s commitment to welcoming and delighting everyone under the sun, its float riders include Miss Florida Seminole Princess Thomlynn Billie; LGBTQ human rights leader Stuart Milk; Broward County Public Schools Principal of the Year Marie Hautigan; Florida Panthers’ hockey legend Bill Lindsay; Florida Panthers mascot Stanley C. Panther; and Alexander Star, a local Emmy®-nominated songwriter, performer, and impact artist who recently partnered with Visit Lauderdale. Star will take center stage as he performs “Laudy Dayo,” the newly released destination anthem for Greater Fort Lauderdale, on Visit Lauderdale’s custom-built float.
The 135th Rose Parade® live telecast will be aired on NBC and ABC beginning at 8 a.m. PST/ 11 a.m. EST in Pasadena, California. The wide-reaching event draws a national television audience of approximately 45.5 million viewers.
This is the first time Visit Lauderdale, the official destination marketing organization for Greater Fort Lauderdale, is participating in the iconic event.
“Visit Lauderdale’s float will be a living tapestry in motion,” said Visit Lauderdale president and CEO Stacy Ritter. “We are incredibly proud of our hand-selected float riders who represent different aspects of Greater Fort Lauderdale – from our rich cultural heritage to our commitment to inclusivity and diversity, and of course our extraordinary sports, entertainment and musical personalities who encapsulate what makes our destination so special.”
In addition to the honored riders, Visit Lauderdale’s Rose Parade float will feature life-sized alligators with waving tails, friendly manatees, and sea turtles emerging from the sands, offering a glimpse of Greater Fort Lauderdale’s unique ecosystem that spans from the Everglades to the Atlantic Ocean.
The float, which is 24 feet long by 18 feet wide and 55 feet high, will re-create Greater Fort Lauderdale’s tropical paradise through an ingenious use of organic materials. Designers will utilize up to 45,000 flowers, including 1,000 varieties of fragrant and colorful roses, paired with flax seeds, brussels sprouts, sesame seeds, blue statice, heliconia, cymbidium orchids and more, to cleverly showcase why Greater Fort Lauderdale is an ideal destination for visitors seeking a genuinely welcoming and inclusive environment.
For more information on the Rose Parade, visit https://tournamentofroses.com. To request an interview with Stacy Ritter, president and CEO of Visit Lauderdale, contact Ebony Tyre at etyre@broward.org.
