What makes a good parade float

Write down all of the ideas on a chalk-board or large presentation paper and agree to a design. Creativity is sometimes the most difficult part of building the float, but it is also the most fun! You can visit our float decorating products page for fast, easy to use colorful float decorating materials. The links below show you how to build a basic parade float using Valley Decorating's Float Products. Our products make float building fast, easy, and comparatively priced to other decorating avenues.

Click on the images below to see how easy it is to build an award winning parade float using Valley Decorating Float Products.

If you have a hay-trailer, click on the picture. Back to Parade Float Home Page. Go to Information Feedback Page. This is a great opportunity to spell out your school initials or make your school mascot symbol. This is essentially a vinyl sheet of die-cut petals. Floral sheeting can be used to cover your float floor or to decorate your whole float.

It's easy to work with and fast! Measure and cut the floral sheeting to fit your float floor. Staple it to your framework, overlapping each piece. The fringe benefit? It gives your vehicle the illusion of floating. If your fringe is too long, trim with scissors. What in the world is festooning? Festooning is a great way to give your float a finished look by using it on edges, framing and corners.

Make an entrance with a personalized banner for your float. This can also go on the back of your float for a parting message to the crowd. Try our easy-to-follow guide on building a parade float:. Here are the important questions to consider before building your float. Alternatively, instead of building floats from scratch, you can create an awesome one with complete kits and work on it immediately.

How many people do you have available to work on the float? How much time can each devote to the project? Building a float requires team effort and a lot of dedication. Animals and other props should not be threatening. Keep it simple. Select a place for the organization's name and place it high and unobstructed on the float in large letters. You want your float to be colorful, eye-catching, and get the attention of the captive audience -including the thousands along the parade route as well as the millions reached by the media.

Music from the float will draw attention before it appears and after it has moved on. The cost may vary from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. On commercially built floats, the labor is the most expensive item. For the do-it-yourselfer, the decorations may be the most expensive. You will also have to borrow, buy, or rent a flatbed trailer and buy lumber and plywood for it.

Fund raising is great way to cover the costs. This is best done months in advance through raffles, silent auctions, donations, social evenings, commercial sponsors, etc. Once you have decided upon an idea, have an artistic person make a drawing for you. You can refer to the drawing while building your float. This alleviates a lot of headaches as you go along. A parade float begins with a basic 4-wheel chassis flatbed trailer. Trailers of this type are normally seven to eight feet wide and fourteen to twenty four feet in length.

A hay wagon works fine.