Float participating in a parade in the United States celebrates the independence of Mexico.
Mexican officials plan to kick off a year’s worth of bicentennial events, commemorating their independence with a float at the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade.
"It’s about putting Mexico in an international forum … like the Rose Parade," said Juan Marcos Gutierrez, consul general of Mexico in Los Angeles. "The message is pretty much that today we are starting the celebrations throughout the year."
The float – featuring floral replicas of the Aztec calendar and Mexico City’s Angel of Independence, skirted by 36 people dancing to traditional Mexican music – is the first time in recent years that the nation has featured a float in the parade.
The last time the Mexican government sponsored a float in the parade was 1968, the same year the nation hosted the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
This coming year, the country celebrates 100 years since the Mexican revolution and 200 years of independence from Spain.
Wells Fargo and Televisa are sponsoring most of the float’s cost.
Mexican Consulate officials are helping coordinate some of the volunteers to help decorate the float that will travel down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day.
Many who helped create the float are Mexican immigrants or of Mexican descent – from the builders to well-known float designer Raul Rodriguez, Gutierrez said.
The 24-foot-high and 55-foot-long float is already sparking ill will among some in the anti-illegal immigration crowd.
Message boards on Web sites and e-mails are aflutter with criticism for the float, which is to be decorated by hundreds of volunteers, including Mexican immigrants and their families and 31 Girl Scout troops from Orange County.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/float-226168-parade-mexico.html