PASADENA, CA — Many Southern Californians ring in the new year by watching the Rose Parade live from their TVs or braving the cold morning in Pasadena to watch floats glide past with high school marching bands, bedazzled dancers, and festive singers. Monday, Jan. 1 – Tuesday, Jan. 2, hundreds of people viewed these magnificent floats at the Tournament of Rose’s Floatfest: A Rose Parade Showcase. Every year after the Rose Parade, guests can see the details of every petal and seed up close along the two-mile Floatfest route.
At the entrance to the parade route was a group protesting the Israel-Hamas war with megaphones and signs. They preached for the end of the genocide in Gaza, shouting, “Stop the violence, stop the war!” and “Save our children, sons, daughters!” Police officers were stationed around the protesters for precaution.
Past the protesters, the street was similar to a busy baseball stadium, jammed with hot dog stands. Fresh smells of bacon wrapped on a chili cheese dog drew in customers who didn’t want to wait in line in the food truck area.
The route began at Sierra Madre Blvd. and Washington Blvd. in Pasadena. The streets were packed with people surging between floats under a sunny, blue sky. Crowds were greeted by a roaring lion from the San Diego Zoo’s float, a stunning moving safari scene that won the Sweepstakes Award for the Rose Parade’s most beautiful float.
It takes months to build it from a platform and build up the structure. Then it takes weeks to put the flowers on.”
— Ray Schwantner, Tournament of Roses member
All the floats are built and decorated by volunteers, including students. The parade volunteers at the Floatfest were recognizable by their white suits, red ties, and dapper hats reminiscent of “Mary Poppins” characters. Some displayed badges from each year they have volunteered at the parade.
“Each builder or sponsor takes the float back to where it’s built, and they decide what happens. They usually deconstruct them and give them out, or make flower arrangements out of them,” said Schwantner, who has volunteered at the Rose Parade for 15 years.
The theme for the 135th Rose Parade was “Celebrating a World of Music,” inspiring floats with animal sounds and floral takes on musical notes and instruments.
The floats were emphasized by their use of banana leaves, roses, Cordelias, baby’s breath, and other all-natural materials. The artwork consisted of meticulous design and structure where each blossom, plant, seed, and vegetable created a stunning visual. This year’s floats depicted larger-than-life animals, storybook creatures, and whimsical scenes of nature.
“I liked the one that had little unicorns on it with pacifiers,” said Melissa Jimenez, a 27-year-old from Norwalk. “But I also like the Trader Joe’s one.”
“They’ll take big flowers and cut them into the smallest [pieces]. I like that. The dragon’s head, that purple; that’s all cut-up flowers that’ve been pasted on,” Schwantner said.
By 4:30 p.m., near the parade route’s closing, most of the protesters had cleared out. Police officers still guarded the corners of streetlights and parked their cars in the middle of the roads to oversee the remnants of the crowd.
Overall, each Rose Parade float combined diverse styles of music from various cultures. The creativity and tradition that was the final product of Tournament volunteers made the parade an inspiring start to 2024.
