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Whether you are visiting Pasadena or live in the area, here are 21 facts to know about the 2017 Rose Parade.

Prepared by Robin Southworth

1- The 128th Rose Parade will take place on Monday, Jan. 2nd (Never on Sunday) and will have a chilly weather (in SoCal standards) compared to last year.

2- The Parade’s theme is “Echoes of Success.’ It’s a celebration for people, institutions and organizations that help in the success of others.

3- Close to 750,000 people are estimated to attend the Rose Parade, and the celebration will air live on eight networks to more than 56 million viewers. The parade will also be televised in 174 countries, which will attract an additional 28 million viewers.

4- There will be almost 1,000 of “white suiters” -the ones that wear all-white suits and red neckties- fanning out across Pasadena on New Year’s Day making sure the parade goes smoothly.

5- The parade floats will arrive on-site before midnight, get lined up and then park in the middle of the closed street.

6- “White suiters” get assigned as overnight float protection keeping cars from entering the float formation area, and will prevent anyone in a car from entering –except for brain surgeons on the way to perform brain surgery!

7- The Tournament of Roses has more than 20 committees (935 members of the non-profit Tournament of Roses Association), each supporting a different element of the parade and the Rose Bowl game.

8- The Tournament takes care of its people. Throughout the long night, a van will come around constantly with coffee, hot chocolate and snacks.

9- The line-up will have 94 entries with floats, marching bands and equestrian units. One float will be from Netflix, and another will be 125-foot-long, going for a two Guinness world records for the longest and heaviest Rose Parade Float. The marching band lineup will include groups from Japan and Mexico.

10- In addition to the use of traditional flowers, some floats’ designs will sprout palm tree fiber, kidney beans, orange lentils, crushed sweet rice, and black pepper seed to name a few.

11- Float liaisons (the ones who ride a white scooter, wear a white helmet and escort the floats along the route) spent 10 Saturday mornings between June and December directing traffic so that floats can safely road-test their engines and animation effects.

12- As a native Southern Californian, you should never use the word “cold” unless you want to be reprimanded by visitors from the east coast.

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14- Pasadena Mayor, Terry Tornek, will ride a 1907 “Autocar“.

15- Leeza Gibbons and Mark Steine will be shepherding KTLA’s coverage of the parade replacing the well loved broadcasters Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards.

16- The Rose Queen® for 2017 is Victoria Cecilia Castellanos. She’s the 99th Rose Queen, a senior at Temple City High School and lives in Temple City. Six Rose Princesses were chosen as well, Audrey Mariam Cameron from Blair High School; Maya Kawaguchi Khan from Arcadia High School; Shannon Tracy Larsuel from Mayfield Senior School; Autumn Marie Lundy from Polytechnic School; Natalie Rose Petrosian from La Cañada High School; and Lauren ‘Emi’ Emiko Powers from Arcadia High School. In the Trump era, the 2017 Royal Court faced few racist remarks on local social media groups.

17- The Royal Court members are usually chosen from a pool of 31 finalists, which are part of a larger pool of almost 900 young women, and few young men!

18- The parade is digital with the Official Digital Rose Parade Program App for mobile tablets (available for free download in the Apple iTunes App Store (iPad version), (iPhone version), and in (Google Play) plus a digital version for desktop browsers (here).

19- It will be a 5 1/2mile stretch for the entire parade. It starts at the corner of Green Street and travels north on Orange Grove Boulevard, then it turns east onto Colorado Boulevard, before it turns north onto Sierra Madre Boulevard and wraps up on Villa Street.

20- A lot of volunteers put this incomparable parade together for you. They don’t get paid. Your smile is their pay. They will be cold as you will be too. Bundle up, smile at them, and have a great time!

21- A Sign of the Times:

This year’s Rose Parade (and the Rose Bowl) will have water-filled barricades at more than 50 intersections along the parade route, in addition to the NO DRONE zone that was enacted last year, plus many street closures. (Read safety tips and guidelines provided by the City of Pasadena).



We Recommend:

– What to do After the Parade

Questions? Call Visitor Hotline: 877-793-9911