10 Winter and Holiday Parade Float Theme Ideas - Parade Float Supplies Now (2024)

Posted on November 16, 2017 by Krista Lessard

10 Winter and Holiday Parade Float Theme Ideas - Parade Float Supplies Now (1)Need winter and holiday parade float ideas? The holidays are upon us. In this article, we will give you some parade float ideas and concepts — ranging from the fun, colorful and popular to the classic or one-of-a-kind — and how you can make your parade float stand out this season.

  1. Winter Wonderland

This is a staple among holiday parade floats and it never fails to amaze. In bright royal blue and white, this beautiful theme still has its fans.

  • Use silver foil and glitter to add a bedazzling effect.
  • Build gorgeous scenery using snowflake tree kits.
  • When pressed for time, you can readily use a fully decorated float kit like our Winter Wonderland Complete Parade Float Theme and you’re good to go (with only minimal decorations or lights to be added).

2. Frozen

The modern take on the classic Winter Wonderland theme, this beautiful concept is quite popular with the younger set even years after the hit Disney movie was released.

  • Recreate Queen Elsa’s dramatic scene of unleashing her powers by building a raised structure with working stairs. Use plenty of royal blue, aqua and white shades; balance with silver accents.
  • Make sure to add cardboard cutouts or live performers to act as the characters.
  • Create palace-looking columns by adding snowflakes, glitter and faux snow (see our tutorial on making snow).
  • Scatter snowflake structures and pieces throughout the trailer.

3. Snow Globe

Capture the magic of Christmas with these charming parade float ideas.

  • To emphasize the beauty of the snow globe structure, keep the rest of the trailer design simple yet elegant. Dress up the trailer bed with iridescent floral sheeting.
  • Add flex lights to go around the base of the globe and along the sides of the trailer bed.
  • Populate the inside of the snow globe with life-like characters and create a story.

4. Polar Express Train

Take people on the express ride to holiday happiness with this delightful theme. This is quite basic and easy to put up and the best thing about it is you can add as many accessories as you deem necessary.

  • Build a train car-like structure with the top off. Provide benches on the trailer for anyone to go riding on the trailer.
  • Paint the outside of the “train car” and trim the top parts with holly or green twists or festooning.
  • Using our letter kits, decorate the side of the “train car” with the words “The Polar Express”. Paint the letters with gold or silver.
  • To go with the yuletide theme, ask the people on the trailer to dress up as either Santa, elves, or some other Christmas character.

5. Gingerbread House

Nothing quite like a fun theme like a Gingerbread House to entertain the crowd especially kids.

  • Keep the overall design bright, colorful and appealing. Add faux peppermint and candy cane accents to make things even more cheery.
  • Use lights to trim the eaves and corners of the structure and along the edge of the trailer.
  • Decorate the trailer bed with iridescent floral sheeting and add bits of snow on the roof of and the path towards the gingerbread house.
  • Hand out snacks, candies and other munchies during the parade to make the gingerbread effect come alive.

6. Nativity Scene

Religious parade float ideas show the real meaning of Christmas. Christmas is a significant celebration among the religious and the faithful. Go for this theme to emphasize a strong message of hope, blessedness and Godly grace.

  • There are several ways on how you can achieve a simple yet elegant nativity scene presentation.

— Use cardboard or wood cutouts of the figures and paint them in white or in full color

— Use 3D models to make the scene more life-like

— Have actors play out the scene every few minutes or at specific points in the parade route

  • Use as much lights as needed to brighten up the trailer. Create beam-like effects toward the baby Jesus by extending lights from the star towards the crib.

7. Evergreen

Green is the color of hope and new beginnings that’s why this simple yet understated concept is quite refreshing and would be a welcome sight during the parade.

  • Build an enchanting woodland forest with cardboard cutouts of trees or use fresh-cut, real ones to keep it authentic.
  • To keep the contrast more dramatic, deck the trailer bed with iridescent floral sheeting. Add a dusting of faux snow on top the trees.
  • Add cardboard cutout animals or ask actors to play out roles.

8. North Pole

Beat the holiday chill with a cool theme like this.

  • Create a large enough-sized igloo structure and make sure it’s securely fastened or adhered to the trailer bed.
  • Decorate the trailer bed with iridescent floral sheeting and plenty of faux snow.
  • Populate the North Pole scene with penguins, polar bears and elves from cardboard cutouts. Or ask actors to play out some of the characters (especially Santa Claus and some of the elves). If the igloo is big enough, the characters can go in and out of the igloo and have them bring out snacks, candies and other giveaways to the audience.

9. Naughty or Nice

Keep people guessing whether they made it to Santa’s list with this fun theme.

  • Create box-like structures as the focal points of the trailer. Make sure that these “gifts” are as sturdy as possible so “elves” can climb on top them during the parade. Paint them in vibrant shades or wrap them in colorful patterned paper.
  • Add a cutout of a mega-sized scroll as Santa’s list.
  • Ask actors to play out characters (Santa, Mrs. Claus or the helper elves). And as the parade goes, have them point out to the crowd and “check the list” if people made it to the list or not.

10. Candy Factory

The holidays are all about spreading happiness and cheer. So keep it merry, bright and fun this season with a Candy Factory-themed parade float.

  • Emphasize the gaiety of the festivities with bright accents and decors like overlarge peppermints, candy canes, lollipops and other colourfully-wrapped sweets.
  • Add plenty of lights to attract the crowd.
  • Be sure to have a bunch of treats and goodies to throw out to the audience.

Check out ParadeFloatSuppliesNow.com for parade float ideas and everything you could need to build an incredible winter or holiday parade float.

10 Winter and Holiday Parade Float Theme Ideas - Parade Float Supplies Now (2024)

FAQs

What makes a good parade float? ›

You want your float to be colorful, eye-catching, and get the attention of the captive audience -including the thousands along the parade route as well as the millions reached by the media. Music from the float will draw attention before it appears and after it has moved on.

What are the floats used in parades? ›

A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle like a truck or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, the Carnival in São Paulo, the Carnival of Viareggio, the Maltese Carnival, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Mardi Gras in New ...

What materials float the best? ›

The materials which are lighter than water are capable of floating on the water's surface. Example: Wood, ice, dry leaves, kerosene oil, and plastic.

What is a short sentence for float? ›

Examples of float in a Sentence

dust floating through the air The incoming tide will eventually float the ship off the reef. They floated the logs down the river. She floated gracefully across the stage. His voice floated to the back of the room.

What is a float example? ›

Float is a function or reusable code in the Python programming language that converts values into floating point numbers. Floating point numbers are decimal values or fractional numbers like 133.5, 2897.11, and 3571.213, whereas real numbers like 56, 2, and 33 are called integers.

What are the rules for parade floats? ›

Floats, including tow unit, must not exceed 50 feet in length. The float must be designed to maneuver the several corners along the parade route without delaying the forward motion of the parade or causing potential hazards. Floats must be a minimum of 12 inches ground clearance from the frame.

Why is it called float? ›

The term floating point refers to the fact that the number's radix point can "float" anywhere to the left, right, or between the significant digits of the number.

Why is it called parade float? ›

The parade float got its name because the first floats were decorated barges that were towed along the canals with ropes held by parade marchers on the shore.

What are the four floats? ›

Float is one of the very basic concepts essential for building network diagrams and in turn a project schedule. Further, there are different types of floats such as Free float, Total float, Project float, Interfering Float, Independent Float.

What material is used in floats? ›

Low density floats made of materials like wood, cork, thermocole, sponge plastic etc. This is used in Indian fishing gears like gill nets. The density of wood is 650g/1000 cc. They are relatively cheap.

What plastic material is used for floats? ›

The three that float in water are less than 1.00 g/mL and these are: HDPE, LDPE, and PP. See the chart on densities for the actual numbers. Plastics will vary in density when they are manufactured so there is a range of densities for each kind of plastic. Pure metals have an exact density and not a range.

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