From Betsy Malloy,
Your Guide to California Travel.
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The Rose Parade began at a Pasadena Valley Hunt Club meeting in 1890, when Professor Charles Holder suggested holding a festival to tell the world about California. That first year, two thousand people came out to see flower-covered carriages travel down Colorado Avenue. Today, a million people turn out every New Year's Day to watch dozens of floats, bands and equestrian groups.

Watching the Rose Parade

The Rose Parade

• Starts at 8:00 a.m.
  
• Is held on January 1 (January 2 when the first is a Sunday)
• Lasts about two hours
  
• Travels along a 5.5-mile route through Pasadena starting at Ellis Street and Orange. The Rose Parade reaches the last viewing area near Sierra Madre Blvd. and Villa Street at about 9:30 a.m.

Curbside viewing space for the Rose Parade is available on a first-come, first-served basis. The City of Pasadena lets people occupy curbside space along the route starting at noon the day before the parade, and the best spots are taken soon afterward. Overnight camping on the street is permitted, and fires (in fire-safe containers which are off the ground) are allowed if it's not windy.

Rose Parade Grandstand Tickets

Grandstand Viewing is the easiest and most comfortable way to see the goings-on. It's also the most expensive. You can reserve one of 70,000 elevated Rose Parade grandstand seat tickets online in advance from Sharp Seating. Grandstand seating is available through Sharp Seating Company. Everybody, regardless of age, must have a ticket to sit in the grandstands. Ticket prices are as much as $30 less expensive further down the route than they are near the beginning.

If the regular sources are sold out and you're willing to pay a bit more to get seats, you may be able to buy tickets through a ticket broker such as TickCo Premium Seating, a respected reseller for hard-to-find and sold-out Rose Parade tickets.

You and any items they bring into the Rose Parade grandstands will be searched and backpacks, coolers or large bags are not allowed.

More Rose Parade Events

Admission fees of $5 to $8 for each are charged for each of these Rose Parade events, to cover the cost of running them. You can buy tickets for these events online in advance from Sharp Seating.

• Float Decorating: During the last few days of putting on the finishing touches, some of the floats-in-progress are on view at several locations. If you want to volunteer to help decorate a float, the Rose Parade website lists ways to contact the float-builders directly.

• Post-Parade Float Display: New Year's Day after the Rose Parade, and all day for the next two days, visitors can see these beautiful creations close-up. Parking is limited at the viewing area, and your best bet is to use the park-and-ride service. You can buy viewing tickets in the shuttle bus parking lots. Arrive early. Not only is the viewing area less crowded, but if the area gets too crowded later in the day, they sometimes stop selling tickets. Allow at least two hours.

• Equestfest: The equestrian (horse) performers strut their stuff for the public at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, 480 Riverside Drive, Burbank, CA 91506. Visitors can stroll through the stables and talk to the riders, take pictures and watch the horses and their riders perform drills, dances, and demonstrate trick riding and roping.

• Bandfest: This field show, which runs two days before the Rose Parade at Pasadena City College, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd., features Rose Parade bands.

Rose Parade the Cheap, Easy Way

You don't have to sit on Colorado Boulevard all night with the folks throwing marshmallows and spraying Silly String. You don't have to spend lots of money for bleacher seats and expensive parking, either. It's a little-known fact that the Rose Parade itself is the least fun way to see the astonishing floats, and it's the most expensive event to boot. If you have two to three days for your Rose Parade experience, here's what to do:

• Buy tickets to view the float decorating. You'll get a chance to see the floats under construction, up to about midday the day before the parade begins.

• Head for Orange Grove Boulevard late on the night before the parade, when the floats start to move into position. Giant spotlights hung from cranes make the scene almost as bright as day.

• On Rose Parade morning, sleep late while everyone else is fighting the crowds to get into place. Watch from your home or hotel. You'll be comfortable, and you can hear all the commentary.

• Buy tickets for the best and most interesting part of the Rose Parade: float viewing. You can get closer to the floats and talk to their builders here. Crowds will be smaller if you can arrive immediately when they open on the morning after the parade. Use an area park-and-ride lot, or if you have a carful of people, try for one of the paid lots near Pasadena High School.

Rose Parade Hotels, Getting to the Rose Parade