SF Flower Mart To Bring Eileen Gu "Firehorse" To Life
Legacy Business SFFM to adorn Olympian Grand Marshal’s Red Mustang with Vibrant Red & Gold Blooms
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeanne Boes
Friday, March 6th, 2026
415.637-8817
San Francisco – The 2026 Chinese New Year Parade will be celebrating the rare (every 60 years) “Year of the Fire Horse” – a time of rapid transformation and passionate creation.
114 year old legacy institution, the San Francisco Flower Market, will also be creatively transforming the red mustang of Grand Marshal and San Franciscan Olympic gold medalist, Eileen Gu (also Gu Ailing 谷爱凌) – with beautiful flowers. Red and yellow gold roses and assorted flowers will mix with golden laurels – a nod to the original Olympic games in Greece. Red dahlias complete the floral installation, as the official flower of San Francisco.
“It is an honor to celebrate Eileen Gu, someone who has brought so many people together in these challenging times,” said SFFM floral designer, Raul Dueñas. “As an immigrant and an artist, I’m inspired by her resilience and passion. It was a challenge to work with a vehicle, as opposed to a float, where you can go so much higher and bigger. But I think Eileen Gu’s ‘firehorse mustang’ will be the envy of the parade. She is sending a message to all of us that this is our year to bloom and be bold.”
The SFFM’s connection to Chinatown and the immigrant community go back generations. As one of the last three remaining wholesale flower markets in the country, SF Flower Market provides the flowers for almost all of Chinatown’s floral shops. It is one of the only places in San Francisco you can hear languages from Cantonese, English, Italian, Armenian, and Russian to Spanish and Japanese spoken all in one place.
“The San Francisco Chinese New Year parade is the largest lunar new year parade outside of China, so it makes sense to have an icon like Eileen Gu leading us into 2026 on a fiery red mustang ablaze with flowers,” said Jeanne Taggart Boes, Executive Director of the SFFM. “She’s been such a booster for her hometown, and so has the SF Flower Market. There is literally no cultural celebration, festival or community convening that the SF Flower Market doesn’t touch in San Francisco. We’re honored to support thousands of jobs regionally, from farmers to drivers to small business owners, event planners and floral artists. We really are an extended creative family, and are looking forward to what the Year of the Fire Horse has in store for us at our new home in Lower Potrero Hill."
The San Francisco Flower Market was relocated as a part of a development agreement with Kilroy Realty at the end of 2024. The Market relocated to a new 125,000 square foot facility at 901 16th Street in Lower Potrero Hill, which opened in early January 2025, to much fanfare.
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About the Artist
Raul Dueñas, a visionary floral designer deeply rooted in his Mexican heritage, made his debut at Bouquets to Art (BTA) in 2023. The subsequent year, 2024, marked a significant milestone as Dueñas became the first Mexican male to present at BTA, captivating a sold-out audience with his evocative presentation, "The Magic of the Hummingbirds."
In 2025, Dueñas returned to Bouquets to Art with the distinguished honor of crafting the centerpiece installation for the Legion of Honor's centennial celebration. An accomplished international floral designer, Dueñas currently translates his spectacular floral visions into breathtaking realities for discerning clients throughout the United States and Mexico.
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