Best Day Ever: The 136th Tournament of Roses Parade

Greetings and happy New Year! We are ushering in 2025 with one of our favorite annual traditions. To kick off this new year, we find ourselves again under the bright sunny skies of Pasadena, California to celebrate the 136th Tournament of Roses. And the parade theme, “Best Day Ever,” was fitting for the occasion on many points.

The weather was perfect. After a week’s worth of fog and winter gloom, the heavens opened up to brilliant blue of a Southern California day. The parade stepped off at 8:00 am PST, with Pasadena Fire leading the way on Colorado Boulevard and an 8:06 am flyover by a B-2 stealth bomber out of Whiteman Air Force Base. The floats were beautiful, as always. Some of my favorites are included in the photos below.

There was a float that needed a tow from the start of the parade route. AAA got a few cheers from the boisterous Cal Poly students in the stands across from where I was filming.

There were many other amazing floats. Illinois played hooky with their float depicting the 80s classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, with familiar Chicago landmarks like the Sears Tower and Wrigley Field. On a more somber note, the Explore Louisiana float was absolutely beautiful, with a whimsical Mardi Gras gator. It is not lost on me that as we were celebrating our New Year’s Day tradition, families in New Orleans were reeling from what at time of writing appears to be an act of terrorism, costing the lives of ten innocent people and injuring many more. It is beyond me as to why someone would devastate a community in what should be a time of celebration and new beginnings. My heart hurts for those affected. I am also not taking for granted the strict security measures- though inconvenient to residents- to help protect parade-goers and performers.

To pivot again to the subject of performances, the musical groups were especially excellent this year. Jackson State University, a historically black research university, lived up to its name, The Sonic Boom of the South. Their brass delivered a punch, and their percussion was booming throughout Colorado Boulevard. Ohio State, I hate to admit, was also on point. The Marine Corps, Army, and Navy had units performing in the parade this year, also very cool. There were even bands who traveled from Japan and Panama, high stepping and dancing along the parade route even while doing the difficult task of playing and staying on key. But in my completely biased opinion, my favorite musical group was the Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band.

PCC has marched in the Tournament of Roses since 1930, and this past year, the city college celebrated 100 years of educational excellence. The community college offers rigorous coursework that easily transfers to universities and four-year colleges, as well as vocational programs. They also partner with local school districts, including mine, to offer duel and concurrent enrollment to enable students to get ahead in college credit at low or no cost. They also have a great marching band. The 225 spots are very competitive, and musicians work very hard throughout the season, sacrificing weekends to practice and prep for the parade. One of those musicians was my Jacob, who eagerly re-enrolled at PCC and joined the band after coming home from his first deployment. This was his second time marching in the honor band, again playing the sousaphone down the five-and-a-half mile parade route. I am so very proud of his commitment and dedication to his craft, and I am so thankful for the opportunities offered to him here in Pasadena.

There was so much more to see and to write about, but I’ll have to end here. While there is much pain in the world- and we have already had reminders of this in the early hours of 2025- there is also much joy. Both can exist, as can love and hope. I hope for you a blessed new year, and that 2025 will bring many “Best Days Ever.”

For videos of the music groups and floats, check out my TikTok or YouTube Shorts: @thecrankycamper.