Rose Parade Countdown

Rose Parade's story so far

Rose Parade records

America's New Year celebration

First held in 1890, the Tournament of Roses Parade greets New Year's Day with floats decorated entirely in flowers and other natural materials, alongside marching bands and horses. It's followed by the Rose Bowl college football game.

Never on a Sunday

By long-standing tradition, when January 1 falls on a Sunday the parade moves to Monday, January 2, so the date shifts by a day in those years.

The 49–0 blowout that banished football

The Tournament of Roses first added a football game in 1902 — and it went so badly that organizers dropped the sport for over a decade. Michigan demolished Stanford 49–0, and Stanford conceded with eight minutes still on the clock. Embarrassed officials replaced football with Roman-style chariot races down Colorado Boulevard. The gridiron didn't return until 1916, and that revived East–West matchup grew into the Rose Bowl Game, college football's oldest bowl.

Curb camping or a grandstand seat

Pasadena lets spectators stake out sidewalk spots from noon on December 31, and thousands camp overnight along Colorado Boulevard — folding chairs are fine, but tents, couches and ladders are banned. Prefer a guaranteed view? Grandstand seats are sold by Sharp Seating Company, the Tournament's official ticket partner. And don't rush off afterward: the floats park near Sierra Madre and Washington Boulevards for post-parade viewing in the days that follow, close enough to see every petal.

Quick facts

• Held in Pasadena, California since 1890
• Steps off at 8 a.m. Pacific Time
• Floats are covered entirely in flowers and natural materials
• Followed by the Rose Bowl football game
• The parade route runs 5.5 miles along Colorado Boulevard
• The 'Never on a Sunday' rule dates to 1893, adopted so the parade wouldn't spook horses hitched outside churches

Parade-day essentials

Stake out Colorado Boulevard in comfort.

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