The crowds won’t have been as raucous as on Mardi Gras in New Orleans, however a bit of little bit of Louisiana participated in Monday’s well-known Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.

The Louisiana-themed Celebration Riverboat float rolled within the annual procession earlier than the 2023 Rose Bowl school soccer recreation. Complete with a spinning paddle-wheel, the steamboat-styled float carried 21 honest and pageant queens, in addition to a former Shriners Hospital affected person, the Louisiana Office of Tourism stated.

Among the riders was Louisiana Strawberry Queen 51, Kirstin Drozd, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The float, which cost Louisiana $350,000, gained the Showmanship award for essentially the most excellent show of showmanship and leisure, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser’s workplace stated. It was amongst 23 floats Rose Parade that gained awards, according to The Orange County Register.

The float wasn’t Louisiana’s solely consultant on the parade. Country singer Lainey Wilson, a local of Baskin in Franklin Parish, carried out within the parade.

This is the second time in two months {that a} Louisiana-themed float has taken the nationwide stage. In November, a large alligator float rolled by the streets of New York City within the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Tourism officials spent $1.4 million to have the gator featured in three Macy’s parades.