Festival Float Fabrication and Custom Tableau Design
We build large-scale festival floats and tableaux for Mangaluru's streets, bringing local stories like Pili Nalike to life through detailed metal welding, thermocol carving, and bold airbrush painting.
This is where the magic happens for Mangaluru Dasara. We take immense pride in fabricating these large-scale festival floats, especially those celebrating the spirit of Pili Nalike. This video shows our team's process, from initial fabrication and thermocol carving to the final, roaring tiger sculptures ready for the procession.
Our work is built to make an impact, especially during the night parades of Mangaluru Dasara. This giant joker-themed tableau, created for Kalicharan Friends, shows how we incorporate lighting and vibrant colors to create an unforgettable spectacle that energizes the crowds.
A glimpse of our tableau for the Kudla Brothers during the Mangaluru Dasara 2022 parade. This video captures the scale of the tribal and sun-themed float, showing our artist spray-painting the large headpiece and the final creation moving through the streets at night.
Our team works tirelessly to prepare for Mangaluru Dasara. This video from 2022 shows the behind-the-scenes effort, from our artists carving large thermocol sheets to airbrushing the fine details on a massive tiger head sculpture. It all comes together for the final carnival float.
A teaser we created to build excitement for the Mangaluru Dasara 2023 celebration with Kalicharan Friends. It highlights the Pili Nalike theme, which is a core part of our local culture and a recurring inspiration for our thermocol sculptures and float designs.
Here is a look at the various components we prepare for our Dasara tableaus. You can see close-ups of painted masks, a giant sculpted foot, and a fierce tiger head, all crafted from thermocol and other materials in our workshop before assembly.
The foundation of every great float is solid construction and detailed artistry. This clip shows our team welding the metal framework and meticulously carving designs into thermocol sheets, giving you a raw look at the early stages of our tableau fabrication process.
About Festival Float Fabrication
For our festival tableaux, we don't just use thermocol; we weld sturdy metal armatures first to make sure the float survives the long, bumpy procession routes through the city. When you talk to me about your float, we'll discuss your specific theme, the transport logistics, and exactly how to make your main sculpture pop under night streetlights.
How We Build Your Tableau
Every float we build for festivals like Mangaluru Dasara starts in our workshop with raw, hard work. We don't believe in flimsy setups that wobble in the wind. We start by welding high-grade metal frames that act as the skeleton for the entire structure. Once the foundation is solid, we carve massive figures out of high-density thermocol. This is where the artistry happens—our team sands, shapes, and airbrushes every detail, from the fierce eyes of a Pili Nalike tiger to larger-than-life character caricatures.
Material and Durability
While these floats are temporary by nature, we build them to withstand the high energy of a parade. We use a primer mix to seal the thermocol before applying high-contrast acrylic paints, ensuring that your tableau stays vibrant even in the night-time glare of streetlights and flashbulbs.
Why Custom Fabrication Matters
- Conceptualization: We take your theme—whether it's mythological, folk, or modern—and sketch it out before a single wire is cut.
- Visibility: We understand procession dynamics. We paint for impact, ensuring your float is recognizable from a distance.
- Safety & Stability: By using bamboo and light metal wire armatures inside the thermocol shells, we ensure the pieces are lightweight for transport but strong enough to handle the procession route.
We know the effort that goes into organizing a procession team. Our goal is to take the load off your shoulders, delivering a float that respects the tradition of the event while standing out in the crowd. If you have an idea for a tableau, reach out and let's get it sketched out.
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