2024 Rose Parade will feature many people from Broward. Here’s the lineup.

Lisa J. Huriash, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·2 min read

The upcoming 2024 Rose Parade in California will feature float riders who hail from Broward County, including a Principal of the Year, an LGBTQ rights leader and a winner of Miss Florida Seminole Princess.

The list of Broward’s participants for the 135th Rose Parade on Jan. 1 were announced Monday by Visit Lauderdale, the marketing organization for Greater Fort Lauderdale.

Riding on a float will be:

  • Miss Florida Seminole Princess Thomlynn Billie.

  • Stuart Milk, an LGBTQ rights advocate and nephew of Harvey Milk, the gay-rights pioneer and politician who was killed.

  • Broward County Public Schools Principal of the Year Marie Hautigan.

  • Florida Panthers’ hockey legend Bill Lindsay.

  • Alexander Star, an Emmy-nominated songwriter, performer, and impact artist who will perform “Laudy Dayo,” the newly released destination anthem for Greater Fort Lauderdale.

  • Florida Panthers mascot Stanley C. Panther.

Stacy Ritter, Visit Lauderdale’s president and CEO, said in a statement the float riders show off the region’s “rich cultural heritage,” the “commitment to inclusivity and diversity, and of course our extraordinary sports, entertainment and musical personalities who encapsulate what makes our destination so special.”

In August, Broward County signed off on a budget up to $790,000 for the Rose Parade parade, the iconic New Year’s tradition, as part of a massive advertising effort to bring tourists to the region to shop and play.

The money for the float will come from Broward’s tourist-related tax, the extra 6% charged at hotels.

In November the agency unveiled what the 24 feet long by 18 feet wide and 55 feet high float will show off: An estimated 45,000 flowers, including 1,000 varieties of “fragrant and colorful” roses, paired with flax seeds, brussels sprouts, sesame seeds, blue statice, heliconia, cymbidium orchids and more.

There will be life-sized replicas of alligators with waving tails, friendly manatees and sea turtles emerging from the sands, “offering a glimpse of Greater Fort Lauderdale’s magical ecosystem spanning from the Everglades to the Atlantic Ocean,” according to the agency.

And landmarks will include an architectural replica of the guitar-shaped Seminole Hard Rock Hotel.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash