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Health & Fitness

Don't miss out on Rose Parade floats

The Tournament of Roses offers opportunities to get involved through float decoration, other volunteer work.

Pasadena wouldn't be Pasadena without its annual tradition of the Tournament of Roses. This is a topic that is dear to my heart because I love this event -- both because of how it helps Pasadena shine on a national level but also for all the ways it allows community members to get involved.

The Rose Bowl and Parade takes place Jan. 1, but it’s not too soon to begin thinking ahead. Staff and volunteers are already gearing up for the 2013 event, and parade tickets are on sale now through Dec. 31. Tour packages are also available; reservations tend to be taken on a first come, first-served basis. You may also learn more about game tickets on the site.

Most organizations creating one of the stunning floats to be seen in the upcoming parade have been working on it for most of the year, though the website is still accepting float applications. Cities and community organizations often participate, so get in touch with your local groups to see if there’s still a chance for you to join in the fun. Or, you can visit the  “Decorate Floats” web page to see about contacting a float builder to join in the decorating fun.

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Some residents even go so far as to become a member of the Tournament of Roses. The volunteers are often known as "White Suiters" because of the outfits they wear during the parade.

To get even more deeply involved in the Tournament, you may apply to become a member of the Tournament of Roses and become one of the member volunteers, often known as “White Suiters.”

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Did you know?

The Tournament of Roses began as a promotional effort by Pasadena’s Valley Hunt Club. In the winter of 1890, the members wanted to promote the “Mediterranean of the West.” According to the Tournament of Roses Website, they decided to invite their former East Coast neighbors to a mid-winter holiday to watch games such as chariot races, jousting, foot races, polo and more. Of course, Pasadena has an abundance of fresh flowers, even in the winter, so the club also added another showcase: a parade to precede the competition, where entrants would decorate carriages with hundreds of blooms. 

High-tech floats

The floats in the parade have also come a long way since the parade’s beginning. The Tournament of Roses website has the following to say about its floats:

“The process starts with a specially built chassis, upon which is built a framework of steel and chicken wire. In a process called ‘cocooning,’ the frame is sprayed with a polyvinyl material, which is then painted in the colors of the flowers to be applied later. Every inch of every float must be covered with flowers or other natural materials, such as leaves, seeds or bark. Volunteer workers swarm over the floats in the days after Christmas, their hands and clothes covered with glue and petals. The most delicate flowers are placed in individual vials of water, which are set into the float one by one.”

Computerized animation has given floats the ability to feature King Kong moving through a floral jungle, pigs dancing the hula and a 60-foot-tall talking robot.

If you’d like to experience float decorating without entering a float yourself, you can get a backstage glimpse of the floral floats in their final stages of preparation at any of three locations. There is also a chance to examine floats in more detail in the Post-Parade: Showcase of Floats.

I encourage you to take the opportunity to become more involved one of the highest-profile events in our nation that has become a beautiful showcase of everything Pasadena.

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