Following all the hustle and bustle of the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day, you can enjoy a closer look at each of the 40 floats taking part in the event during Floatfest: A Rose Parade Showcase, when all of the floral and animated masterpieces shall have been parked along Sierra Madre and Washington Boulevards in Pasadena.
Come rain or shine, Floatfest will allow you to closely examine the design and workmanship that went into each entry, and volunteers from each float delegation will also be on hand to tell you more about their own float-making process, which may be markedly different depending on which float you’re looking at.
The post-parade float display opens at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day, closing at 5 p.m. and re-opening the next day at 9 a.m. There’s a two-hour window from 7 to 9 a.m. on Sunday reserved for seniors and disabled visitors, and a Floatfest Shuttle, included in your ticket, can pick you up from two Pasadena locations, get you to Sierra Madre and Washington Blvd., and bring you back to your pick-up point.
Street parking near the event will be extremely limited, as Tournament of Roses officials estimate about 150,000 to tour the Floatfest area. Guests using the shuttles can enter the event through a priority line, the organizers said.
When the Tournament of Roses first held its parade in 1890, just over 3,000 spectators lined the parade route to watch as the orange-blossom-bedecked horse-drawn carriages marched by. After more than a century, the parade floats are a marvel of state-of-the-art technology tucked away beneath all the fresh flowers and other natural materials that make up each display.
Every New Year, the beautiful floats are accompanied by spirited bands and high-stepping equestrian units as they march along the five-and-a-half-mile route down Colorado Blvd. The bands and the equestrian teams have their own pre-parade exhibition events on the Rose Parade calendar.
The Rose Parade presented by Honda begins at 8 a.m. on January 1.
For Floatfest, ticket sales are now ongoing through the Tournament of Roses website, managed by Sharp Seating. Ticket booths will also sell admission tickets at Park and Ride locations from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Seniors and disabled visitors can purchase their tickets there from 6:30 to 9 a.m.
Guests are advised to put on comfortable walking shoes and to arrive early. The display avenue spans over two miles of city streets with a moderate incline. No pets or bikes are allowed.
For security purposes, all bags will be inspected at the gates. To expedite entry, clear bags no larger than 12x6x12 inches are recommended.
For more information about tickets, Floatfest schedules and shuttle pickup times and locations, visit https://tickets.sharpseating.
