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Behind the Floats

The highs and lows of building for the Chinese New Year Parade

By Ji Hyun Lim | AsianWeek Staff Writer

Between Pier 27 and 29, there is a flurry of activity among the volunteers and float makers. All are preparing for Feb. 15 — the big day to showcase months and months of planning for the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade.

In this hidden but spacious locale, the air is damp and cold. Six floats sit, nearly finished.

Gallons of paints, 150 sheets of plywood, 200 2x4s, 600 pounds of glitter and enough floral sheeting to cover a football field are some of the crucial materials needed to make a memorable 15-second viewing for thousands of parade attendees.

David Thomas, a float builder by trade, has made floats for the Chinatown parade for the past six years. He has been responsible for coordinating and gathering volunteers for this huge project. He explains that every year, it is a challenge to create floats that will “ooh and aah” parade watchers.

“We start planning ideas the day after the parade,” he said. “We carve big sculptures in mid-summer, which takes 45 days, and by early autumn, we start on the actual building.”

Volunteers and contract laborers participate in the float creation. Thomas looks for people who are artistically geared towards craft making. “If they can make a funny little animal out of popsicle stick, it’s easy for them to grasp the concept of making it with a bigger popsicle stick,” Thomas explains seriously.

Rose-Marie Twu, 56, has been a volunteer for the past six years. Twu, a Chinese American, feels that helping out with the floats is a way to celebrate the new year and her Asian Pacific American identity. She estimates that she averages 600 hours of work every year. Her responsibilities include creating lists of materials to purchase, buying parts, dressing the float and painting.

“It satisfies my creativity [but] the hardest part is waiting for decisions to come down and figuring out what needs to be done — we don’t want to waste time,” she said.

Thomas points out that float building can be a costly endeavor. He estimates that it costs approximately $100,000 dollars — not including the costumes. Costumes usually cost $150 for each person’s wig and clothes. Fortunately, sponsors like the San Francisco Chronicle and other local community organizations assist in funding these huge projects.

This year, the gang working on the floats is excited to showcase the “Chinatown grandma” float, the “1950s” float and the “New Year Kids” float. Thomas hopes that these floats will be able to win local and national competitions, as his responsibility is “making the city look great.”

As it gets closer to the big day, volunteers are putting in hundreds of hours to bring the project to fruition. Both Thomas and Twu understand that the stakes are high to make the floats functional yet entertaining. Nonetheless, everyone hopes that the parade attendees will appreciate their hard work.

“This business is only for manic depressives,” Thomas said in jest. “There are big highs and lows. You make them gasp and that’s a big high and two hours later, you tear it down.”

Reach Ji Hyun Lim at jlim@asianweek.com.