The 136th Rose Parade has begun and is rolling along 5.5 miles of Pasadena streets before an anticipated New Year’s Day crowd of hundreds of thousands.
The parade is being televised by networks including ABC, NBC, KTLA and Univision, and streamed on platforms including YouTube, Fubo and Pluto TV.
Celebrating this year’s parade theme of “Best Day Ever,” dozens of floats, marching bands and equestrian groups will traverse Colorado Boulevard through the heart of Old Pasadena. The parade will be followed by the Rose Bowl game between the Oregon Ducks and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The parade began hours after a pickup truck driver plowed through a crowd in New Orleans’ French Quarter, killing at least 10 people and injuring at least 30 in a suspected terrorist attack.
A man drove into the crowd around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday along Bourbon Street, which was bustling with New Year’s Eve revelers and visitors in town for the Sugar Bowl college football game at the nearby Superdome. New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said the driver “was hellbent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”
Lisa Derderian, a spokeswoman for the city of Pasadena, told The Times early Wednesday that the Rose Parade route is lined with “very robust vehicle barriers” and that more than 1,000 law enforcement officers are in the city.
Crowds line Colorado Blvd. in the early morning in anticipation of the 136th Rose Bowl Parade.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“This is a top-rated federal event, and it has been for many years, so we have federal, state, county and city resources that have been in Pasadena for several days and will remain through the end of the parade and the game tonight,” Derderian said.
“We want to ensure the public that we have every preventive measure in place,” she added. “We’re confident we are prepared for this parade and this game, but with that in mind, we also feel for the state of Louisiana what they’re going through.”
During last year’s Rose Parade, a woman rammed her vehicle into one of the barricades along Colorado Boulevard, Derderian said.
“She could have easily injured or killed people,” Derderian said. “She had some past history of mental illness, was told not to cross a line, didn’t listen, revved her engine, and continued driving. The barriers stopped her.”
Tournament of Roses officials said in a statement Wednesday that they “extend our deepest sympathies to the people of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans following this morning’s tragic events.”
“We stand in solidarity with the entire state during this difficult time.”
For the fourth consecutive year, the state of Louisiana has a float in the Rose Parade. This year’s float, dubbed “Louisiana Saturday Night,” features a giant alligator wearing a beaded necklace and carrying a Cajun dance hall and pots of boiled seafood on its back.
Mark Garcia, retired firefighter from Contra Costa County who camped overnight along Colorado Boulevard with his family, said that while he was saddened by the news in New Orleans, he had “never felt safer” than he did along the Rose Parade route Wednesday morning.
“There’s been two or three police patrolling this block all night long,” said Garcia, 58, adding that he was comforted by the “huge police presence.”
Bryce Murphy, left, and sister Charlotte Murphy, of Rancho Cucamonga, pass the hours before the parade on their phones, accompanied by their grandmother Roseann Ochoa.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles T)
Garcia, who lives in Danville, was attending the parade for the second year in a row. He staked out his camping spot at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, became friends with other campers and in high spirits — despite only getting three hours of sleep.
“It’s just a great spectacle bringing together so many people. Everyone’s in a great mood,” Garcia said. “It’s such a great event. It’s quite an undertaking.”
A few blocks away, Angel Gutierrez, of Pasadena, huddled with his family around a makeshift bonfire before the parade began.
Gutierrez also claimed his camping spot early Tuesday morning, saying he preferred to camp for a full day and night — even with the chilly overnight weather — rather than shelling out up to $125 apiece for grandstand seats that can fill up weeks in advance.
“I don’t want to say it, but the stands are for boring people,” Gutierrez said with a laugh. “Here, you get the whole experience, getting to talk to different people.”
Gutierrez has been coming to the parade for about two decades — and his 10-year-old son, Rony Plascencia, has been attending since he was an infant.
“This is about starting off the year good,” Rony said.
He added: “My New Year’s resolution is for homeless people to get a home.”
This year’s Rose Parade grand marshal is Billie Jean King, the tennis icon and gender equality activist who won 20 Wimbledon titles, 39 Grand Slam titles, and drew an audience of 90 million people worldwide for the televised 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” match in which she beat onetime national tennis champion Bobby Riggs.
When she was announced as the parade’s grand marshal in October, King, a Long Beach native, said it “is like a dream come true.”
“As a child, the annual Tournament of Roses Parade was a big deal in our home,” said King, 81. “We used to talk about it all year long. … We looked forward to it every single year.”
The 2021 Rose Parade was canceled for the first time since World War II because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned to a smaller crowd in 2022, but attendance has been growing in the years since.
Candy Carlson, a spokeswoman for the Tournament of Roses, said in a statement to The Times that about 750,000 people lined the route in 2024, compared with about 700,000 in 2022, indicating a “strong return” to pre-pandemic crowd sizes.
“The consistent growth in attendance underscores the Rose Parade’s enduring appeal and the joy it brings to our community and visitors from around the world,” she said. “We’re confident this year’s parade will continue to draw a vibrant and engaged audience.”
The Rose Bowl, which is now the College Football Playoff quarterfinal, will be broadcast nationally on ESPN, with pre-game festivities beginning at 1 p.m. PST and kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m.
Along the parade route, Susan and Leo Caviness, who traveled from Ohio to watch their son perform with the Ohio State University Marching Band, said they were not bothered by the 50-degree morning in Pasadena — which, to many of the Southern Californians in attendance, qualifies as chilly.
“I’m actually hot!” Susan Caviness said with a laugh.
