The Rose Parade
Also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade, but NOT the Rose Bowl Parade. The Rose Bowl is a football game and the committees that coordinate the events share many of the same organizers, but they like to keep them separate.
The tickets we purchased for parking specified that the car should be in the space by 6 AM. That is a good recommendation. It has to do with street closures all over Pasadena. Even at 5:30 AM, when we were making our way through the last local streets, there were closures, but with the parking tag someone moved a barricade so you could be through.
There is also advice to be in your seat by 7 AM. That one seems a bit excessive. If you purchase a seat in the formal reviewing area, where the floats make their turn onto Colorado Boulevard, that seems necessary. In other grandstands 7:45 would be plenty of time and people kept coming to our grandstand area after 8AM, which was a pain in the butt.
Some of you probably saw the parade on TV and you will see some wider photos of floats below, but many of my pictures will be closeups. You get to sit fairly close.
The float above is sponsored by Trader Joe's.
Most of the floats are corporately sponsored or sponsored by trade groups. This one is sponsored by wine makers. On the front, singing to all the spectators, is Kool and the Gang. Many of the floats play music through sound systems. This is one of a handful that made room for actual performers.
The Shriners.
The two above are from a float by China Airlines. This is the float with China in the name that made it through the parade route. The other, from a Chinese American group, caught fire just before the turn onto Colorado Boulevard and it disrupted the end of the parade.
The ski lift is from a float to promote getting outdoors.
The eagle and eaglet are from the same float as the one above. Detail work on the floats is amazing.
The three photos above are all from a Hawaiian tourism float. Perhaps they knew that as soon as the parade was over we were getting into our rental car and heading to LAX. I am working on the blog this morning from Honolulu.
The two above are again great examples of detail work. The surfer riding a wave with sea foam around the curl is very creative. One of the challenges to shooting from the stands made for regular people viewing is that in one moment your background can be something nice and neutral and the next moment the background is a bit more distracting.
Apparently all major events get the Goodyear blimp (mainly there for the football game) and a flyover from an Air Force stealth bomber. It's how you know you are hanging out with a few hundred thousand friends.
A float started to smoke and it wasn't a design element. Then it broke down. The tow truck sent to move it broke down. The other floats could not get around it until it was moved out of the way. There is no public address system along the route. Parade watchers waited and waited and figured the parade was over. We think nearly 20 minutes elapsed.
Most of the spectators left. Many, including our entourage, were standing in Colorado Boulevard when the Sheriff's Deputies started asking us to move back to the sidewalk because they had three more floats to show us. The facilities people already removed the seats at street level. We just stood on the curb. The grandstand seats after the formal reviewing area are close to the parade floats and they aren't as tall or deep, but standing on the curb is REALLY close.
I used a longer lens for shooting figuring I'd be taking all of the pictures from the grandstand. When the floats moved directly in front you get a very good view of what the designers used to make the colors. All the materials (except the structure that makes the float move down the street) must be organic. Seeds, stems, mulch fruits and vegetables are all used. While the super structures of the floats take weeks to build the decorating takes place in just a few days of marathon work. The flowers wilt eventually.
The Cal-Poly float is special to us now. Somewhere on that float there are two flowers in their water vials with our names on them. We don't know exactly where, but somewhere!
It was definitely worth the trip. The people sitting near us at 320 West Colorado Boulevard were all great. We gave the people in front of us our seat cushions. On that specific issue here is confusing element to what the folks at Sharp Seating tell you. Sharp is the official and exclusive ticket broker for the parade route. All of it. Yes. If you own property you may sit on your lawn or roof. On the web page it says you may bring your stadium seating along. To them that means a seat cushion. If you type that into a search box you will see a small, folding seat with a back. You aren't supposed to bring those. In fact, they make people who do bring them take them back to their cars. They mean a seat cushion. Duly noted and suggestion about wording on the way.
If you attend and decide to stay in Pasadena it is a four night minimum from the hotels. We stayed in Glendora with many other parade attendees and the hotel / motels there will sell their beds by the night like any other time of the year. It was a 25 minute drive at 4:50 in the morning.
If this is on your bucket list tickets for the January 1, 2020 parade go on sale February 1st, 2019. Sharp Seating is the only source for tickets. Tours that sell tickets are re-brokering them. This is Pasadena's annual moment in the national spotlight. It's actually not that big a city.
The tickets we purchased for parking specified that the car should be in the space by 6 AM. That is a good recommendation. It has to do with street closures all over Pasadena. Even at 5:30 AM, when we were making our way through the last local streets, there were closures, but with the parking tag someone moved a barricade so you could be through.
There is also advice to be in your seat by 7 AM. That one seems a bit excessive. If you purchase a seat in the formal reviewing area, where the floats make their turn onto Colorado Boulevard, that seems necessary. In other grandstands 7:45 would be plenty of time and people kept coming to our grandstand area after 8AM, which was a pain in the butt.
Some of you probably saw the parade on TV and you will see some wider photos of floats below, but many of my pictures will be closeups. You get to sit fairly close.
Most of the spectators left. Many, including our entourage, were standing in Colorado Boulevard when the Sheriff's Deputies started asking us to move back to the sidewalk because they had three more floats to show us. The facilities people already removed the seats at street level. We just stood on the curb. The grandstand seats after the formal reviewing area are close to the parade floats and they aren't as tall or deep, but standing on the curb is REALLY close.
I used a longer lens for shooting figuring I'd be taking all of the pictures from the grandstand. When the floats moved directly in front you get a very good view of what the designers used to make the colors. All the materials (except the structure that makes the float move down the street) must be organic. Seeds, stems, mulch fruits and vegetables are all used. While the super structures of the floats take weeks to build the decorating takes place in just a few days of marathon work. The flowers wilt eventually.
It was definitely worth the trip. The people sitting near us at 320 West Colorado Boulevard were all great. We gave the people in front of us our seat cushions. On that specific issue here is confusing element to what the folks at Sharp Seating tell you. Sharp is the official and exclusive ticket broker for the parade route. All of it. Yes. If you own property you may sit on your lawn or roof. On the web page it says you may bring your stadium seating along. To them that means a seat cushion. If you type that into a search box you will see a small, folding seat with a back. You aren't supposed to bring those. In fact, they make people who do bring them take them back to their cars. They mean a seat cushion. Duly noted and suggestion about wording on the way.
If you attend and decide to stay in Pasadena it is a four night minimum from the hotels. We stayed in Glendora with many other parade attendees and the hotel / motels there will sell their beds by the night like any other time of the year. It was a 25 minute drive at 4:50 in the morning.
If this is on your bucket list tickets for the January 1, 2020 parade go on sale February 1st, 2019. Sharp Seating is the only source for tickets. Tours that sell tickets are re-brokering them. This is Pasadena's annual moment in the national spotlight. It's actually not that big a city.
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