Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade

As a vibrant city, Pasadena is one of the business, cultural and entertainment hubs in the area and is host to many year round events. One of the largest and by far, most popular, is the Annual Tournament of Roses Parade held on the 1st of January of every year. Each year the parade takes on a different theme that is selected by the President of the Tournament of Roses. For the 2010 parade, the theme was "A Cut Above the Rest", and for the 2011 new years parade, the theme is "Dreams, Friendships & Memories."

History of the Rose Parade

The Annual Tournament of Roses Parade, or just "Rose Parade" for short, was first held back in January 1, 1890 in Pasadena. Originally it was members of the Pasadena´s Valley Hunt Club that first staged the parade and they are still involved to today along with many other participants of course. When it first began, the parade wasn´t celebrated by the magnificent rose floats we see today, it was mostly by horse carriages. Then over time the carriages were replaced by bigger and bigger rose floats, however horses still have a strong presence in every parade from cowboy rope shows to different equestrian decorations that march through the parade. Read more about the history of the Rose Parade.

Float Builders and Volunteers

The Floats that we all see are built by an army of volunteers and professional float building companies that assemble these magnificent mobile floats. Participants generally build floats that are expressions of various cultures, backgrounds or themes from various organizations, clubs, businesses and communities. During the parade, these floats, along with school marching bands, horses and various decorated volunteers march from Orange Grove and on through Colorado Blvd, where almost a million people come to see the show. It´s also nationally televised through major television networks for all to see!

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