Somebody take a picture – it’s the Veishea parade.

Students, families and alumni will gather on Saturday to watch the annual event exhibit of 122 parade entries. Every year, some of the most memorable entries are the greek floats.

Peter Holleman, junior in civil engineering and co-chairman of the team that designed his greek float, said he is excited to show off his group’s hard work and to hopefully win the greek float competition.

“Coming back [this] year, we [wanted] to improve and come out with a win,” Holleman said. “It’s the last thing we do as a competitive event, and to take that win home is a boost of confidence.”

Holleman’s fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, is grouped with Tau Kappa Epsilon, Phi Delta Theta and Chi Omega. Planning for the float started at the end of January, and the 14 co-chairpeople -comprising representatives from each house – came up with the idea of using a theme based on the Disney-Pixar movie “The Incredibles.”

“The theme for Veishea is ‘The Legacy Continues,’ and the entire parade is to commemorate Iowa State and where it is going,” Holleman said. “In the movie, the [Incredibles family] was a growing legacy. With our fraternities and sorority combined, we have been here 100-plus years that we are expected to continue.”

The team has been designing and building the float since March, and Holleman hopes everything will work out smoothly and that the float will be finished by the 1 a.m. Saturday deadline.

“We’re going to tough it out and get through it – hopefully, no problems,” Holleman said. “It’s going to come together – we’re not worrying too much.”

This year, there is a new regulation that states floats must be pulled instead of self-propelled.

“One of the reasons why we implemented new rules was safety,” said Kyle Wiebers, sophomore in pre-business and Veishea parade co-chairman.

The new rule should also prevent problems in the parade flow.

“Since they are all towed, we don’t expect delay,” he said. “We do have tow trucks standing by with protocol if something does break down.”

The parade committee regulates how much money can be spent on floats, which differs for each category. Materials budgets for the large floats are limited to $12,000.

Holleman said many of his team’s materials were donated or provided for a reduced cost, so their spending was about half of the allowed amount.

Astrid Carlson, senior in apparel merchandising, design and production, helped build her sorority’s float in the past and remembers the amount of time it took to create the float.

“The amount of work is so much more than you think,” Carlson said. “It’s a really long process.”

Although the work involved may seem overwhelming, Carlson found the process rewarding.

“It was really fun to be with friends and have a good time putting it together,” Carlson said. “It’s just really cool working on it and then sitting in the parade and watch it go by and see the kids excited.”

Wiebers said the parade is Iowa State at its best.

“The floats make the parade experience,” he said. “They are one of the best ways you really get to see the Veishea culture.”

The 2008 Veishea Parade

When: 10:40 a.m. Saturday

Route: Begins at Pammel Drive in front of the Molecular Biology Building, heads south on Stange Road, then west on Osborne Drive and through campus on Morrill Road. It will continue on Union Drive in front of the Memorial Union and end in front of the Forker Building parking lots.