Downey Rose Float asks city council for $30K donation

Concept art for the Downey Rose Float Association’s 2023 entry. (Courtesy photo)

DOWNEY - The Downey City Council will consider donating $30,000 to the Downey Rose Float Association at their meeting tonight.

Talks of potentially subsidizing the Rose Float Association began in early August, at the suggestion of Councilmembers Claudia M. Frometa and Mario Trujillo.  Further discussions took place at the Aug. 23 meeting. Though a majority of the City Council seemed behind the funding, further information from city staff and an official request from the Rose Float Organization was requested.

Downey’s yearly float entry is one of only six “self-built,” non-commercial floats; funded by donations and designed, constructed, and decorated by volunteers.

The Downey Rose Float Association raises anywhere between $65,000 to $100,000 depending on float need each year, most of which coming from three major fundraisers: operation of a 4th of July Firework stand, The Parade of Winners event, and the Miss Downey Pageant. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however, The Parade of Winners and the Miss Downey Pageant have not been held in two and a half years, impacting the organization’s funding.

Downey Rose Float has also historically applied and been approved for $8,000 in rental credit through the Downey Civic Theater Financial Assistance Program.