By Gerardo Sanchez, January 20, 2026
The 2026 Cal Poly Universities’ Rose Float won the Pasadena Tournament of Roses’ top award at the 137th Rose Parade Jan. 1 amidst a historic rainfall.
The Sweepstakes Award honors the most beautiful float overall and has traditionally gone to large commercially built floats and major organizations, marking a rare triumph for the only student-run entry in the parade.
Cal Poly Universities’ “Jungle Jumpstart” presented the Rose Parade theme “The Magic in Teamwork” with a vibrant display of fresh and dried floral décor, as rainforest animals helped restore their automaton ally.
“We were all screaming and cheering and crying in front of the stands,” said Cal Poly Pomona Design Chair Allyson Castillo in an interview with News Channel 3-12. “I remember I called my mom, and I told her we received the Sweepstakes Award, and she didn’t know what that meant but she was so happy for me.”
This was the first time Cal Poly Universities won this award in the nearly eight decades of creating a rose float. It was also the first time in 20 years rain soaked the parade route, but spectators equipped with ponchos and umbrellas embraced the wet weather to marvel at the floats.
Visitors got to look closer at every float during Floatfest, a two-mile showcase of the floats after the first parade route appearance, and found Easter eggs hidden within the float, such as the robot’s chest panel donning the universities’ Rose Float logo, an abbreviation CPRF 77 marking the universities’ 77th float, and a fabricated flower in honor of Tim Okuma, a 1974 CPP alumnus and dedicated supporter of the Rose Float Program, according to an article written by Cal Poly News.
“We’re still full-time students, so we had to go through finals week and pass our classes,” Castillo said. “Knowing that all of the hard work and dedication we put in has meant something and paid off in the end meant a lot to us.”
The first Cal Poly float won the Award of Merit in 1949, followed by the Theme prize in 1957 and 1959, according to the Cal Poly Rose Float website. In 1966, the CPP and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students agreed to continue their partnership after winning the Judges Special award. They earned the Leishman Public Spirit Award in 2025, recognizing outstanding floral presentation in a non-commercial float, and now with the Sweepstakes Award, their total award count is 64 as of 2026.
“My favorite memory from this year is right after concept contest,” said CPP Decorations Chair Bailey Beene. “This is my last year, so I was really excited to see what the float would look like. We asked Huntington Gardens for some leftover clippings and the next day they invited us to learn about the environment our robot was going to be in, and seeing everyone so jazzed reminded me why I joined the program in the first place.”
Following the 2026 Rose Parade, the Tournament of Roses announced the 2027 theme, “Welcome.” The theme celebrates the simple joy of belonging through the warmth of family.
“Starting in January, we send out a big call to our alumni and students to send drawing ideas to us,” said CPP Rose Float President Amelia Atwell. “It doesn’t have to be a parade float, and we take it from there.”
Submissions are now open for those looking to send in a design concept for the 2027 Rose Float and can be emailed to rosefloat@cpp.edu until Feb. 5 at 5 p.m.
Feature image courtesy of Matthew Becerra
