Paint fumes and the sounds of drilling linger in the air as students work to finalize their floats for the University of Florida’s Homecoming parade on Friday.
Celebrating its 101st year on Friday, October 17 at noon, the parade stretch along 13th Street and University Avenue. Carolina Villarini, the parade director, said there are around 135 floats and cars confirmed for this year’s event, an increase from last year’s estimated 106 units.
“Our organization has been a part of the homecoming parade since it began,” said Wyatt Lloyd, president of the UF American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE).
But marveling spectators with floats begins with good design and planning.
For ASABE, starting was simple, wanting to do something fun but tied to agricultural biological engineering. Century Tower is their focus, with a functional bell they will ring throughout the parade.
Wanting to stay true to their roots, ASABE is incorporating a mix of Gator elements with themes of a fall harvest, said Ethan DiNottia, ASABE outreach chair and head of the float committee.
For the UF Association of Builders and Contractors (ABC), in conjunction with the UF College of Design, Construction and Planning (CDCP) showcasing Gator spirit was also important. They came together in a brainstorming process to find ideas that best showcased their passions for construction.
President of ABC and head of the float for CDCP, Joey Eggimann, said his college has been participating in the homecoming parade for many years.
“It’s a really cool part of our school, it's a part of our tradition and we like to keep it going and really get people involved.”
For Eggimann it's personal and historical. He remembers seeing pictures of his dad participating in the parade while he was a UF student.
Without giving too much away ahead of the big reveal, Eggimann noted their float would feature a crane like last year’s to highlight their industry.
When it comes to costs, both ASABE and CDCP looked to donors and fundraisers to build their float. DiNottia said the budget for the ASABE float was several hundred dollars.
“We’re going to balance it. Bring in some new stuff and then re-use some old stuff from last year to make it cool,” said Eggimann.
ASABE began building their float in early September while CDCP started in early October.
A lot of hours are invested into the building of the float. For ASABE 50 hours of labor was split among roughly ten people while CDCP had around 30 involved on any given day, putting in an estimated 200 to 250 hours of work, said Eggimann.
According to DiNottia, participating in fun events like the homecoming parade and constructing a float is a good break from school.
“This is a good opportunity for everyone to show their school spirit as one conglomerate, but being able to showcase like this is what we’re doing as students of this sector of the school, since it is such a large university” DiNottia said.
Over the course of designing, building and then showcasing their float during the parade the hard work also allows for new friendships and memories to be made.
“We’ll all be working together in the future somewhere at some point and so it's really about building connections with each other and just enjoying the overall building of the float,” said Eggimann.
As Friday approaches, excitement builds as each organization is putting the finishing touches on their floats.
This is Lloyd’s third year participating in ASABE’s float, and he said the ability to meet new members in their club, get freshmen involved and be a part of a longstanding tradition at UF never gets old.
“Its just so electric and it's great to be out there on the float,” Eggimann said.
The parade starts at noon, but floats will begin arriving at the staging area at 6 a.m. to allow for final touches. Parade-goers also usually arrive early to secure their front row spot in tradition.