Tag Archives: Visit Lauderdale

Visit Lauderdale Rose Bowl Parade Float Cost How Much?!?

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Hold on to your hats and wigs.

The Visit Lauderdale float in the 135th Rose Bowl Parade cost nearly $800,000 in public dollars. The brussel sprout encrusted float was supposed to send a message to Governor Ron DeSantis. Instead, it is more proof Broward bureaucrats and politicians have no problem spending your money.

According to WLRN, the County spent $790,000 on the float. Visit Lauderdale honcho Stacy Ritter told WLRN the float was worth the cost.

“It was everything that we wanted it to be,” Ritter said. “Which was to show the message of Broward County being welcoming and inclusive. And you can just come and have a wonderful experience notwithstanding what you might read about Florida.”

Visit Lauderdale’s Anti-Governor DeSantis Rose Bowl Parade Float Is A Dud

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Visit Lauderdale, the public dollar-funded tourism agency, wanted to send a political message with its float in the 135th annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. According to the Los Angeles Times:

Stacy Ritter knew she had to do something big to distinguish Fort Lauderdale from Ron DeSantis.

The Florida governor had spent more than a year attacking LGBTQ+ rights, and the Broward County seat was suffering. In 2023 alone, 18 conferences pulled bookings from the county, repelled by the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and DeSantis’ forays against queer and trans people and reproductive rights, among other targets.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-12-31/rose-parade-2024-visit-lauderdale

What did Ritter and Visit Lauderdale pay for?

A brussel sprout-festooned float with a rapper, dancers, some Florida Panthers supporters and way too much blue smoke.

Also, two umbrellas at front of the float appeared to be rainbow colored.

Was this really a good use of money?