With the forecast gray today, it may rain on UF's 85-year-old Homecoming parade. But the show will go on, complete with Kung Fu Pandas, an Olympic athlete and marching bands.
Another scheduled event in the parade is up in the air, though.
The Navy ROTC is scheduled for a flyover above University Avenue between Gale Lemerand Drive and Main Street, said Jonathan Lenner, Homecoming parade director.
However, with the rain forecast, the flyover may be nixed, Lenner said. The parade itself will happen, though, he said.
"We are out there doing our best to ensure that we can run the most efficient and best parade with the conditions we have," Lenner wrote in an e-mail.
He said this is the first year the parade has included a flyover, which is scheduled to begin at noon. He said the flyover would add the enthusiasm that has been building over the past few weeks for the parade, he said.
"There's nothing like it," Lenner said. "It has so much buildup, and there's so much excitement surrounding it."
The flyover will feature a T-45 Goshawk, a training aircraft used by naval students, said Lt. Eric Hulbert, UF naval science assistant professor.
Students will not be flying the aircraft, Hulbert said.
Lenner said this year's grand marshal, Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte, would lead the parade. Other honorable guests scheduled to appear include U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, the homecoming court, distinguished faculty and UF mascots Albert and Alberta.
The parade also had an "above average" number of applications for participants, he said.
Normally, the staff has between 130 and 150 applicants. This year, about 200 people applied.
Not everyone was given the OK to march down University Avenue.
"Every year, there is one individual that applies who wants to ride a bull down the parade route," Lenner said. "While that sounds exciting, there are all sorts of safety reasons that we cannot allow that."
Lenner said 150 units - floats, bands and more - would make up this year's parade.
The UF Friendship Association of Chinese Students and Scholars float and the UF Air Force ROTC float are a couple floats Lenner said to look for.
Weitao Li, president of Friendship Association of Chinese Students and Scholars, said the group's float would feature a miniature replica of the Great Wall of China, and two members will walk beside the float wearing Kung Fu Panda costumes standing at 6 feet tall.
"We were fortunate enough to have so many great designs and ideas for floats for the parade," Lenner said.
