Pasadena's Tournament of Roses Parade History and Insiders Tips

Every year the Southern California city of Pasadena, celebrating the New Year, has been hosting America's biggest overnight party and parade since 1890! The pre-parade show, and New Year's Day Tournament of Roses Parade extravaganza, is a holiday tradition for most American families, whether participating live, or watching on TV.

Tournament of Roses History

According to the Tournament of Rose Parade History online the original New Years festival and tournament games, "included ostrich races, bronco busting, and races between a camel and an elephant", were started by the Valley Hunt Club, who wanted to show-off the pleasant Southern California winter weather to snowed-in friends back in New York. The festival grew to include marching bands and motorized floats.

The festivities grew into such an event that in 1895, the Tournament of Roses Association was founded to take over for the Hunt Club. In 1902, the "first post-season college football game ever held" was added, and the new "Rose Bowl Stadium" hosted its first New Years football game in 1923.

Rose Parade Specifics Updated

Although today's Rose Parade floats are now computerized and animated; they are still covered completely by 100% natural materials, such as flowers, seeds, plants, and husks. While a few of the floats are still constructed by volunteer organizations, as in days gone by; most 21^st Century floats are professionally engineered by float-making companies, "taking nearly a year (each) to construct."

Family History with Pasadena Rose Parade

My grandparents moved to Pasadena in the 1940s, where they built the home of their dreams, right down the street from the last leg of the Rose Parade route, on Sierra Madre Blvd. Both of my parents grew up in Pasadena, and my mother was selected to be part of the Tournament of Roses Royal Court in 1950. As one of the Rose Parade Princesses that year, she rode on the official Rose Parade Tournament float.

Growing up in Pasadena my sisters and I lived close enough to the parade route to camp out overnight, in freezing 50 degree temperatures, to secure our parade spot. But as teens in the 1970s, the real show for us was the pre-parade, New Year's Eve party, stretching from one end of Pasadena to the other.

Pasadena Insider Tips

If you are planning on visiting the Pasadena area for the holidays, or are planning to attend the Rose Bowl football game, you should call ahead to purchase grand-stand parade tickets. Or follow the parade route east, from Colorado Blvd. north, onto Sierra Madre Blvd. and find a free viewing spot to plant your chairs. Your family may even enjoy staying up late for the New Years Eve party, along the parade route, as many of us have over the years.

Watching the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade in person, smelling the flowers and dancing to marching bands, underneath sunny, Southern California skies, is probably one of the most spectacular family events you will ever participate in. After all, who doesn't love a parade?