Rose Parade will feature a handful of ‘self-built’ floats assembled by volunteers and fundraising

BURBANK, Calif. (KABC) — Most floats in the annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena are assembled by professional float-building companies dedicated to the craft, with help from armies of volunteers and financing from corporate sponsors.

But a handful every year are “self-built” or fully designed and assembled by teams of amateur volunteers backed by individual donations and fundraising efforts.

For the 2023 parade, six such floats will be built representing, for example, the communities of Burbank and Sierra Madre.

The groups support each other, particularly in this final crunch week before the parade. They say they do it simply out of the joy of bringing smiles to people’s faces.

To learn about their efforts, please watch the video above.

The Rose Parade will air live on ABC7 starting at 8 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 2, 2023.