Venue
Pasadena, CA, United States
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Rose Parade, Pasadena guide
Flower-covered floats on Colorado Boulevard.
In short
On 1 January 2027 the parade sets off through Pasadena at 8:00 a.m., with floats dressed entirely in natural materials, bands and riders, followed by the Rose Bowl Game. It suits early risers and families. Hundreds of thousands line the route, so arrive early, and consider float-decorating viewing in the days before.
The Rose Parade is Pasadena's New Year's Day procession of flower-covered floats, marching bands and mounted riders, staged by the Tournament of Roses and followed in the afternoon by the Rose Bowl Game. Every float is dressed entirely in natural materials, which makes this one of the most painstaking parades anywhere.
It matters to Southern California far beyond the morning itself. The parade is the public face of a whole season of events, from float decorating and band concerts to the football game, and it packs hundreds of thousands of people along a single city street.
For visitors, the real draw is the craft up close. Volunteers spend the last days of December covering moving sculptures in plant material, and the finished floats roll past slowly enough to study every detail.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Where: Pasadena, United States
Venue: Colorado Boulevard
Held: Every year
Type of event: Cultural Events, Community Events, Parade
Currency: US dollar (USD, $)
Time zone: Pacific Time (UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer)
Language: English (Spanish widely spoken)
Map
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Police rules for overnight curb camping
Overnight camping on the route is allowed only on the night before the parade, and the city sets clear limits:
- No tents, sofas or boxes used as seats. Unattended chairs are removed.
- No chairs at all in Area 1, west of Fair Oaks.
- Stay behind the blue Honor Line on the street at all times.
- Small barbecues must be raised at least 1 foot off the ground, kept 25 feet from buildings, with a fire extinguisher nearby.
- Anyone under 18 needs an adult with them between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
- No bonfires, fireworks or open alcohol.
Wheelchair users can request accessible curbside space through the Tournament of Roses before the day.
Bag size and security rules for grandstands
Grandstand security is strict. Bags must be no bigger than 14 x 14 x 6 inches. You may bring sealed water bottles of up to 24 oz, two per person, but no other bottles or cans.
These are turned away at the grandstands: glass, metal or hard plastic containers, coolers and thermoses, alcohol, folding chairs, signs, flags and poles, tripods, monopods and selfie sticks, helium balloons, noisemakers, skateboards, scooters and bicycles, vapes and weapons.
Umbrellas and drones are banned along the whole route, not only in the stands, and a temporary flight restriction covers the parade airspace. Pack a rain poncho instead.
What happens on the day
- 26 to 30 December
Deco week and pre-parade shows
Float teams dress their entries in flowers and seeds in the barns, and the decorating places open to public viewing from 28 December.
- 31 December, noon
Curbside camping opens
People claim their patch on the route from midday and settle in for a long, cold night with blankets and chairs.
- 31 December, 10 p.m.
Colorado Boulevard closes to cars
At 11 p.m. campers may move up to the blue Honor Line painted on the street, but not past it.
- 1 January, about 4 a.m.
Metro A Line starts running
Grandstand seats inside the Orange Grove security zone must be filled by 6:30 a.m., the stands west of Fair Oaks by 7:00 a.m., the rest by 8:00 a.m.
- 8:00 a.m.
The parade steps off
Floats, bands and riders move slowly east. Allow roughly two hours from the first unit passing your spot to the last.
- Afternoon
Rose Bowl Game
The football kicks off at the stadium in the Arroyo Seco, and the route reopens to traffic by 2 p.m.
Grandstand tickets or camping on the curb
The first decision is how you want to watch, because it shapes everything else. Grandstand seats are sold through Sharp Seating, and they come with strict arrival times. Seats on Orange Grove between Colorado and Green, inside the security zone, need you seated by 6:30 a.m. Stands to the west of Fair Oaks close their gates half an hour later, and the rest by the 8:00 a.m. start.
The free alternative is the curb. Pasadena lets people claim curbside space from noon the day before, and many spend the whole night there with blankets, chairs and small raised grills. It is a long, cold wait. The reward is a front-row view that costs nothing.
The Valley Hunt Club and the rule on natural floats
Members of Pasadena's Valley Hunt Club staged the first parade on 1 January 1890. The event grew into the Tournament of Roses, and football joined it in 1902 to help pay the bills. The Rose Bowl Game has been played every year since 1916, in the afternoon after the parade.
One rule defines the floats. Every visible surface must be covered in natural material, from flowers to other plant matter. Artificial flowers are banned, and nothing may be artificially coloured. Builders work in large float barns in the Arroyo Seco and around the Rose Bowl, and most of the final dressing is done just 48 to 72 hours ahead of parade morning. Deco week begins on 26 December, and teams often call on volunteers to help finish the work.
The result draws enormous crowds. Recent estimates put attendance at about 700,000 along the route, with 750,000 for the 2024 parade. Some of those people pay for grandstand seats. Many more sleep on the sidewalk to keep a free spot.
Getting there
Flying in
Hollywood Burbank Airport is the closest, about 16 miles from Pasadena, with shuttle vans into town. LAX is about 27 miles away: shared vans take around an hour, or the FlyAway bus plus the Metro A Line takes about two hours for much less money. Check US entry rules for your passport before you book.
From downtown Los Angeles
The Metro A Line runs from Union Station to Pasadena in 20 to 30 minutes.
On parade morning
Memorial Park station is 0.2 miles from the route, Del Mar 0.3 miles, Lake and Allen 0.4 miles each. Load your return fare onto a TAP card or the TAP app beforehand, as the ticket machines queue badly after the parade.
Driving
Park before 6 a.m., when access across Colorado Boulevard closes, and never on the route itself, where cars are towed. GPS often misses the temporary closures, so add 30 to 45 minutes to any drive.
Where to stay during the festival
Hotels along Colorado Boulevard are the ones to aim for, since they leave you a walk from your seat or curb spot on a morning when roads are shut. Book months ahead: the parade, Floatfest and the game all fall in the same few days.
Further out, choose a room within walking distance of an A Line station, which starts running before dawn on 1 January. Old Pasadena, the 22-block historic district on the route, has the best choice of places to eat.
Weather and what to pack
Pasadena's January is mild by day and cold before dawn. Averages for the month are a high of about 20°C (68°F) and a low near 7.5°C (45.5°F), with around 115 mm of rain over seven wet days (1991-2020 normals).
A night on the curb on 31 December feels far colder than those numbers suggest. Sunshine usually returns by mid-morning, when the floats pass.
Worth packing
- Sleeping bag or thick blankets for a night on the curb
- Warm layers, a hat and gloves for the hours before dawn
- A folding chair for the curb or the grandstand
- Sunglasses and sunscreen for the parade itself
- A TAP card with your return fare already loaded
Car hire in Pasadena
Airport transfer to Rose Parade, Pasadena
Met at arrivals at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and driven door to door to Colorado Boulevard.
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) → Colorado Boulevard
- 45 km · 40 min
Restaurants and food in United States
Places to eat in United States before or after the celebrations.
Joe's Stone Crab
11 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139, United States
Cuisine:SeafoodAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Bar
Alinea
1723 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
Cuisine:ModernistAmerican
- Dine-in
- Counter seating
Franklin Barbecue
900 East 11th Street, Austin, TX 78702, United States
Cuisine:Texas barbecueAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Commander's Palace
1403 Washington Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70130, United States
Cuisine:CreoleNew Orleans
- Dine-in
Katz's Delicatessen
205 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10002, United States
Cuisine:Jewish deliAmerican
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Counter seating
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General
Because of the "Never on Sunday" rule. When 1 January falls on a Sunday, the parade and the game move to Monday 2 January. The rule dates from 1893 and was meant to avoid frightening horses tied up outside churches.
The theme is "Welcome". Each year's floats are designed to interpret the theme, so it is worth knowing before you arrive and spotting how each builder reads it.
Yes. Deco week runs from 26 December to parade day, and float builders often need volunteers to help apply flowers and seeds. The Tournament of Roses has a float decoration volunteer page on its website where you can sign up.
Yes. The 113th Rose Bowl Game is played on the afternoon of 1 January 2027 at the Rose Bowl Stadium, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, so a full day of parade and football is possible.
A show of the parade's riding units, held on 29 December at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, 480 W. Riverside Dr., Burbank. Horse lovers see the riders and costumes far more closely than on parade day.
Yes. The Run With the Roses 5K takes place on 31 December, starting from 103 W. Colorado Blvd., the day before the parade uses the same street.
Timing & weather
About two hours from the moment the first unit passes your spot until the last one goes by. The full route is 5.5 miles, so the front of the parade reaches the end well before the back has left the start.
At Floatfest, held from 1 to 3 January on Sierra Madre and Washington Boulevards, next to Pasadena High School. Before the parade, you can also watch the finishing work at Decorating Places, 700 Seco St., from 28 to 30 December.
Bandfest presents the parade's marching bands over two days, usually 29 and 30 December, at the stadium of Pasadena City College, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd.
Booking
Estimates in recent years have been around 700,000 spectators along the full route, rising to about 750,000 for the 2024 parade.
Getting there
Yes, with advance booking. Sharp Seating sells front-line and second-line RV spots along the route, and buses and RVs can also use designated lots, including the Rose Bowl Stadium, about 1 mile from the grandstands.