Tournament of Roses Confident in Remaining Float Builders After Fiesta Floats’ Demise

The Tournament of Roses Association has moved swiftly to reassure fans and participants that the iconic New Year’s Day Rose Parade will not lose any of its floral luster despite the demise of award-winning float builder Fiesta Floats.

“We are confident that our two remaining commercial Float Builders can accommodate all float participants approved for the 2025 Rose Parade,” Candy Carlson, communications director for the Tournament of Roses, told Pasadena Now.

Phoenix Decorating Company and Artistic Entertainment Services were authorized by the Tournament to continue building Rose Parade floats.

Additionally, multiple floats are “self-built,” like the floats for South Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge and Downey.

The Association’s assurance comes after it decided, about two weeks ago, to remove Fiesta Parade Floats from its list of authorized builders, citing the company’s failure to meet financial and technical criteria. This move ends Fiesta’s nearly four-decade run of creating celebrated floats for the Rose Parade—winning 17 awards in the past three years alone.

“We are grateful to Fiesta Parade Floats for their decades of service to the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association and the Rose Parade. We celebrate the amazing legacy of Fiesta Parade Floats, a legacy that we will never forget,” Carlson said.

Chris Lofthouse, president and CEO of Phoenix Decorating Company, one of the two remaining float builders, echoed the Tournament’s confidence while emphasizing client choice. 

“We are not assuming that we’re going to get any of the clients. The clients still have a choice between a couple of commercial builders,” Lofthouse said. 

He added, “We’re prepared to staff up accordingly if we need to. It’s not going to be a great impact.”

Lofthouse emphasized the adaptability of the float-building community. 

“We are a tight-knit community as far as float builders go, and so we will staff accordingly,” he added.

Artistic Entertainment Services issued a statement saying it has both the infrastructure and the ability to execute complex projects of every scale, with its “dedicated team of over 200 creatives and engineers, bi-coastal facilities spanning more than 100,000 square feet, and years of experience.”

Carlson said the Tournament of Roses is actively working with float participants who were previously partnered with Fiesta to ensure a smooth transition to other builders. This proactive approach aims to maintain the parade’s high standards and visual spectacle.

Fiesta Parade Floats, founded by Tim Estes, had been a stalwart of the Rose Parade. The company’s removal was primarily due to financial struggles exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Pretty much like many businesses and individuals, it started with Covid and when the 2021 Rose Parade was canceled, that gave me zero income for over a year,” Estes explained, detailing the financial hardships that led to the company’s downfall.

Fiesta fell behind on rent payments for its Irwindale warehouse. Fiesta also faced challenges with utility bills and maintaining its skilled workforce in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Despite the devastating setback, Estes reflected proudly on Fiesta’s legacy. 

“We’ve been the highest prize-winning rate company since 1994,” he said. “Since 1994, all but three years, we won Sweepstakes, which is for the best float in the parade.” 

Estes noted that when he started in 1988, there were nine float companies, now reduced to just two.

In recent years, Fiesta had been producing an average of six floats per year, down from their normal 11. The company’s employees, with an average tenure of 20 years and some over 30 years, are now facing an uncertain future.

Tournament CEO David Eads emphasized in a letter that the decision to drop Fiesta was not made “quickly or easily.” The Association determined that the company no longer complied with established criteria for float builders, which include prior experience, financial capacity, physical location, established trade references, necessary tools and equipment, and experienced float operators.

Lofthouse acknowledged the challenges of the float-building industry.

“It’s a tough industry to be in. Our margins are very thin and we do this a lot for the love of it,” he said. However, he remained optimistic about the future of the parade.

“It’s still the greatest parade on earth and with the greatest floats on earth. And we take a lot of pride in that and it’s still going to be the greatest New Year’s celebration in America,” Lofthouse said.