It’s time to test that petal’s mettle once again.
The 136th annual Rose Parade will kick off at 8 a.m. Pacific Time on New Year’s Day and march 8.8 miles through Pasadena’s streets in front of an expected crowd of hundreds of thousands.
In celebration of this year’s parade theme, “The Greatest Day Ever,” approximately 32 floats, 20 marching bands and 16 equestrian groups will traverse Colorado Boulevard through the heart of Old Pasadena.
“The theme for 2025 is to celebrate life’s best moments – the unexpected moments that bring smiles, warm hearts and fill us with joy. It’s about family, friends, community and what we have to celebrate and be grateful for,” Tournament of Roses president Ed Morales said in a statement. Ta.
The grand marshal of this year’s parade is tennis icon and gender equality activist Billie Jean King, who won 20 Wimbledon titles, 39 Grand Slam titles, and won the 1973 televised Grand Slam Championship. He is known for his “Battle of the Sexes” matches that attracted 90 million viewers around the world. She defeated former United States tennis champion Bobby Riggs.
“It felt like a dream come true,” King, a Long Beach native, said when he was announced as the parade’s grand marshal in October.
“When I was a kid, the annual Tournament of Roses Parade was a big deal in our house. We talked about it all year long,” said King, 81. I was looking forward to it.”
The Rose Parade began in 1890 as a promotional event by the Valley Hunt Club, a social organization to show off Pasadena’s famous mild winter climate.
“In New York, people are covered in snow. Here, flowers are blooming and oranges are ripening.” According to the Tournament of Roses, Charles F. Holder, one of the originators of the parade, He said this at a club meeting where the parade was being planned.
Early “dashi” were horse-drawn carriages decorated with flowers.
Today’s giant motorized floats take months to build and must be entirely covered with natural materials such as flower petals, bark, beans, corn husks, seeds, and leaves. According to Tournament of Roses, they travel at an average speed of 2.5 miles per hour.
What’s the weather forecast for Pasadena on New Year’s Day this year?
“Overall, this should be a pretty perfect day,” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Wofford said people camping along Colorado Boulevard should be prepared for temperatures to drop into the low to mid 40s overnight before rising to the mid to upper 50s during the parade. said.
The 2021 Rose Parade has been canceled for the first time since World War II due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Audience numbers declined again in 2022, but attendance has increased since then.
Candy Carlson, a spokeswoman for the Tournament of Roses, said in a statement to the Times that about 750,000 people will be lining the route in 2024, compared to about 700,000 in 2022, the same crowd size as before the pandemic. He said this shows that there is a “significant return” to the market.
“The consistent increase in participation numbers highlights the enduring appeal of the Rose Parade and the joy it brings to our community and visitors from around the world,” she said. “We are confident that this year’s parade will continue to draw a lively and enthusiastic audience.”
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