- #2 Best Float – Knoxville Christmas Parade 2013
I’ll go ahead and say that Andrea was correct in her assessment that this was one of the better parades. I doubted her when she said it but, after sorting through the photographs, there were definitely more decent floats than awful floats. That’s not to say we are a shining example of world-class ChristmasParadeology, because we are far from it. Still, there was some good here and I’ll focus on that for today and leave the complaints for tomorrow’s Ten Worst Christmas Floats.
The photograph above is my choice for second best. You’ve got Santa and the reindeer, multiple levels, nice colors and pretty complete coverage. Overall, it’s a very good float. I placed it out of order because I try to place a strong photograph at the beginning of each post and I didn’t want to giveaway my choice for best float at the beginning and I didn’t want to start with the honorable mention floats. Speaking of those, take a look at those coming up and then we’ll get to the countdown.
The honorable mention floats are seen here in no particular order. They weren’t bad and you might make an argument for one or the other hitting the top ten, but I thought they were each missing that little something that might have placed them higher. Charlie Brown seems a bit deflated, for example, though I love the idea. You might think the first one is pretty week and I’ll admit it needed a lot more, but the idea of the “Little Drummer Boy” and all those cute little drummers was a good one.
So are you ready? Here goes:
Nice color. Complete coverage. Some characters and a bit of upright action. Sure, it could be more elaborate, but it isn’t bad.
I gave it bonus points for the element of surprise. It’s a cool boat in a Christmas parade. Who saw that coming? I really could have gone the other way as I’ve done in the past with the Noah’s Ark float. It was a good one, too, but I didn’t like blending parts of the Bible when the focus is supposed to be Christmas. Still, I liked this one pretty well.
Very colorful. Some effort to take the action vertical. It was the first float and a good one to start with – festive, winter without an overbearing message. Just fun – and that’s a good thing. I’m also noticing that I like the color blue.
I have to confess a bit of mixed feelings on this one. It’s attractive. Purple is a pretty daring choice for a color in a parade noted for its green and red with occasional blue. It has different levels and some vertical effort. My only complaint is the same as last year – it’s Dollywood for goodness sakes! With their budget and staff they should have a float that is ten times more spectacular than the next best float. But here they are at number seven. Not bad if that’s where you want to be, I suppose.
A clear step up in my mind. You have a clear Christmas theme with the “Noel’ proclamation, multiple levels, cool abstract trees on the front, a human presence, but not an overloaded float. All in all, not bad.
We can debate their nutritional offering, but you have to give them a little credit for the float. I know – the blue, again. Still I like the float and I think the Shoney Bear is a hit with the kids. I don’t know if someone mandated the colorful umbrellas, but didn’t that add to it? Imagine if the umbrellas had been black. I do think this is the same float as last year, and it would be nice if they took a decent float and made it much better for next year. Come on, Shoney’s, put some of that breakfast bar money into a more competitive float!
I’m not sure this one should be quite so high, but I really do like the muted colors (Is that black in a Christmas parade?!?) They went with “Happy Holidays” over “Merry Christmas” which probably takes points away for some folks and gives them a bonus from others. Actually, it seems to me “Merry Christmas” in a Christmas parade would be fine, but that’s just me. I probably bumped this one up a few notches because Finbarr Saunders is facing the camera. He’s such an asset to the city and he’d make a great mayor in the future. You heard it here first. An interesting note: last year this float was packed. Where did everybody go? Thanks Finbarr for braving the weather.
I loved the colors, the over-sized drums, the rocking version of a Christmas song they sang, their energy. I think they are a church band and, of course, you can check it out at their prominently displayed link if you like. They just added something to the night in the absence of marching bands (except for CAK).
We’ve done number two at the beginning of the post, so that leaves nothing but this year’s champion for best float . . .
That, in my opinion, is a darn good float. There is so much going on from the old car laden with presents probably heading to grandma’s house to the actual live pit fire at the other end. You have old fashioned Christmas trees, deer, a mention of Jesus along with “Merry Christmas,” so it hits all the right notes in my opinion and it does them well. Would it be better if the logo was less prominent? Of course, but we have what we have and that one’s not bad.
So, there you have it. If there is a float that was in the parade and you didn’t see it today, you’ll see it tomorrow when I post my naughty list. What do you think about the rankings? All messed up? Exactly what you would have said. A small quibble? Take it to the comments. As for me, I’m moving over to the dark side for the “worst float” list.