As the sun rose above the San Gabriel hills on Saturday, Mike Abboud stood in an Irwindale warehouse and reaped the rewards of revival.
After a one-year hiatus, an award-winning commercial builder of Rose Parade floats — now Fiesta Productions — was back in business.
Abboud, surrounded by at least a dozen red-clad Tournament of Roses volunteers, led a time-honored fall tradition – the safety review of three parade entries for the 137th roll down Colorado Boulevard.
There were no Fiesta floats in the 2025 Rose Parade, as the tournament dropped them in June 2024 as an authorized builder after nearly four decades.
For Abboud, who was one of 18 employees laid off during Fiesta Parade Floats’ demise in 2024, the company’s resurrection was always in the cards .
“To see this company go aw