The Wilexa Archives

Rose Floats 2004

The 2004 Tournament of Roses Parade offered the traditional floral extravaganzas on New Years Day. The theme of this year's parade was "Music, Music, Music". Both Boeing and the City of Long Beach entered floats in the annual Pasadena event.

The Boeing float, Music of the Spheres, "portrays Greek philosopher Pythagoras holding a gyroscope of mathematical ratios found in musical scales and celestial charts. The elements at the rear of the float represent the abstract art of music and planetary exploration."

The Long Beach float was a spectacular award-winning entry featuring the best of Long Beach all done up in flowers. In addition to huge whales, it had a myriad of details, such as Grand Prix cars, the Queen Mary, sunken teasure and more. Underwater Melody captured the Lathrop K. Leishman trophy for "Most beautiful entry from a non-commercial sponsor".

Images snapped at the post-parade viewing are showcased in the Outside the Fences gallery. Just click on a thumbnail picture to visit the Rose Parade gallery.

[Editors note: This entry may seem a bit off-topic for this web site, but it does relate to Boeing and Long Beach!]