Even pandas made of petals are popular.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s giant panda-topped float took home the Rose Parade’s top honors Wednesday, winning the Sweepstakes Award that heralds the event’s most beautiful entry. It’s the second year in a row the alliance landed atop the proverbial podium.
The topical 50-foot tall float centered on floral likenesses of Yun Chuan, 5, and Xin Bao, 4, the two giant pandas San Diego Zoo welcomed from China this year, and the first pandas to enter the United States in more than two decades.
“I’m still buzzing from the excitement,” said Zoo Alliance wildlife ambassador Marco Wendt, who attended the Pasadena parade. “We’re so excited for this particular float, highlighting the giant panda — who doesn’t love a giant panda, just a wonderful animal to really unite the people of the world and inspire them on the work that we do at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.”
Yun Chuan and Xin Bao made their public debut at the San Diego Zoo on Aug. 8, drawing headlines, thousands of visitors and the governor’s declaration of “California Panda Day.” The popular exhibit was made possible under a 10-year research agreement with China, with the zoo paying $1 million a year in exchange for the animals. The last time the zoo had cared for the species was in 2019.
The Tournament of Roses says its Sweepstakes Award honors the most beautiful entry encompassing float design, floral presentation and entertainment. This is the second consecutive win for the San Diego Zoo, which last year brought home the title for “It Began With a Roar,” a float featuring a lion named Rex whose roar is said to have inspired the zoo’s creation.
The zoo’s stunning Rose Parade float — a work of art, really — also paid homage to other Asian animals and ecosystems, featuring animated replicas of red pandas Lucas and Adira swinging through the treetops on one end and a likeness of Connor the Malayan tiger on the other. All three real-life animals live at the San Diego Zoo.
The entries must be covered in flowers or other natural materials. This year’s panda float used more than 20,000 roses alongside materials such as corn husks, which covered the railings, and black bamboo that had been grown at the zoo and is the species used to feed the giant pandas. The San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park are accredited botanical gardens.
Wendt said the white fur of the pandas was made of everlasting roses, and their black fur was onion seed. The red pandas included safflower, as well as mum flowers on the tail and back. He said Connor the tiger’s likeness included yellow marigolds known as cempasúchil in Spanish, which are used on the Day of the Dead.
This year’s zoo float theme was “Friendship Across the Earth.” The float does double duty, highlighting the Zoo’s conservation efforts.
“Conservation always starts with people,” Wendt said. “We want people to get inspired and hopefully take part in conservation, especially the little kids out there.”
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is a part of regional conservation hubs around the world. Pandas and tigers are among the species its work is centered on at the Asia hub.
Aside from the two big wins in 2025 and 2024, it took home the Animation Award in 2023 for its “Celebrating 50 Years of Conservation” float, a nod to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s 50th anniversary.
