Visit Mississippi Chief Marketing Officer Katie Coats sat in the grandstand of the Tournament of Roses Parade last year watching the people around her sway and bounce to Jackson State University’s Sonic Boom of the South. Soon after, the state’s first-ever Rose Parade float turned the corner and rolled down Colorado Boulevard. The float stopped in front of Coats as Mississippi-native music group Chapel Hart belted out hits. Coats smiled listening to the compliments from those around her.
“There were some people behind me who say they’re local to California and that they’ve gone (to the parade) every year for the past 20-plus years,” Coats told the Mississippi Free Press on Dec. 19. “It’s their favorite tradition.”
Mississippi’s rich creative history again rolled down the parade route in Pasadena, California, on New Year’s Day as the state made its appearance in the 137th Rose Parade. The float “Mississippi: Where Creativity Blooms” is a nod to the state’s deep roots in music, visual arts, ballet and literature.
The float, which Visit Mississippi sponsored, featured a towering Kermit the Frog representing Leland, Mississippi, native Jim Henson’s Muppets. A signpost behind him pointed viewers toward beloved Mississippi landmarks such as Rowan Oak, the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience in Meridian, and the Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi. The rear of the float featured a symbolic stack of books from Mississippi authors Jesmyn Ward, Tennessee Williams, Willie Morris, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty and Greg Iles. Atop the stack, an open book pays homage to the state’s contributions to visual, musical, literary and cinematic arts.
“We’re thrilled to showcase Mississippi’s creative heartbeat on a global stage,” Visit Mississippi Executive Director Rochelle Hicks said in a September press release. “This float is more than a celebration—it’s a tribute to the artists, musicians and storytellers who continue to inspire generations.”
Mississippi on Parade
The float featured Grenada, Mississippi, native and 2024 Country Music Association Musician of the Year Charlie Worsham, who performed live on the float’s stage, which was wrapped in colorful artwork inspired by Ocean Springs’ artist Walter Anderson. Worsham performed Mississippi staples such as the Muppets “Moving Right Along” and “Mississippi Saturday Night.” Ballet dancers honoring the USA International Ballet Competition, held every four years in Jackson, accompanied him.
“We were already working with him (on the Mississippi on the Map podcast), and we thought he would be a great fit to kind of play his banjo in front of Kermit, who’s also going to have his banjo,” Coats said. “So we’ve got that kind of country music twang, and it was just a good fit to complement Kermit.”
The float is a moving depiction of Mississippi’s storied artistic legacy. The state has produced the most Grammy-award-winning artists per capita in the country. The state also boasts a Nobel Prize winner, William Faulkner, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1949. Mississippians have also won Pulitzer Prizes in literature and journalism, Oscars and Emmy awards.
Visit Mississippi selected Artistic Entertainment Services to create this year’s float. Coats said Visit Mississippi began working on the concept for this year’s float almost immediately after the previous parade.
“We had such a wonderful time working with them last year that they were a natural fit going into our second year,” Coats told the Mississippi Free Press on Dec. 19.
AES began constructing the float’s structure this summer. Once the structure was created, the designers began planting seeds directly into the float and placing lab material that has a longer shelf life than flowers. In the days leading up to the parade, volunteers added live flowers, seeds, leaves, fruit and vegetables, bark and grasses.
“We have (a) bigger flower made to look like magnolias because we want to have that look,” Coats said. “But, of course, that’s hard to do with real magnolia, so we’re using live materials and other floral elements to make the look of a magnolia.”
Another Opportunity for National Limelight
Mississippi’s first-ever entry in 2025 won the Past President award, which honors the most outstanding innovation in the use of non-floral and floral materials. That float titled the “Birthplace of America’s Music” donned 13,000 yellow roses while paying homage to Elvis Presley, B.B. King, and the state’s enduring music heritage.
Coats said the state saw immediate benefit from last year’s participation. She said that Visit Mississippi’s Birthplace of America’s Music float “reached more than 28 million TV viewers, 800,000 in-person parade attendees and 72,000 Floatfest attendees” and that it generated an estimated $1.2 million in earned media value.”
“We saw such great results from last year, not only from the impact of the parade itself, which we knew was going to be a goal—to reach more people than we have before, and new potential visitors through the parade itself and the TV and the street side spectators—but we were able to make so many connections with people who are decorating the float ahead of time and coming to see the float up close,” Coats said.
Visit Mississippi believes their participation in the parade for a second year will bring even more attention to the state by bringing more visitors and increasing their length of stay.
“Through the float itself and all the different earned and paid media that go along with it, we’ll have many interviews that are designed to advertise and promote Mississippi as a tourism destination,” Coats said. “(We want to) drive people to our website, and then there they can see attractions that are listed on the float.”