Volunteers put in overtime to make final preparations on dozens of 2020 Rose Parade floats

PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- At the Rosemont Pavilion in Pasadena, preparations for the 2020 Rose Parade are in the final stretch as volunteers put in long hours to finish dozens of floats in time for New Year's Day.

Float makers use everything from pumpkin seeds to whole flowers, meticulously placing them on the giant structures that will make up the elaborate floats.

"Each float is like a color-by-number and all of the surface that's visible has to be covered in natural vegetation as the color that it's painted on the float," said Leslie Foxvog with American Entertainment Services.

However, they hope the intended messages behind the floral displays will last long after the blooms are gone.

At Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation uses their floats to urge bold thinking.

RELATED: 6-time breast cancer survivor will fulfill wish to ride on 2020 Rose Parade float

During the upcoming Rose Parade, one of the floats gliding along the streets of Pasadena will be carrying a dozen cancer patients who never thought they'd see the new year.

"It is an advocacy that is really both about the problem of homelessness as well as creative alternative solutions to the problem, said the organization's Ged Kenslea.

Others, like Dole Packaged Foods, are simply trying to spread some optimism and cheer on parade day.

Until they're all actually complete, volunteers will be working around the clock to get the floats ready in time.

Watch all of the festive floats make their way down Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena live at 8 a.m. on Jan. 1, live on ABC7.