Rose Parade
The Tournament of Roses Parade, often referred to as the Rose parade, held each year in Pasadena California, is an event thousands of people anticipate all year long. Some people choose to pay for seats in the stands to watch the parade while others camp out all night to ensure they have a free place to watch it. This parade is the second highest ranked parade in the United States. It lags behind only the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. The parade is televised. It is estimated that at least 1 million people attend the parade each year, and several million people watch it on TV each year.
The parade takes place each year on January 1st down a stretch of road eight miles long. This tradition began in 1890. If the 1st falls on a Sunday, then the parade takes place on the Monday after. This rule was established to respect the day of worship. The parade commission did not feel right expecting people to choose between attending their services or the parade.
The Rose Bowl College Football game generally follows the televised parade. This has been the tradition since 1923. Scheduling has resulted in this not always happening. It is being debated if the parade date should be adjusted yearly to fit the football schedule or if it should stick to the January 1st date as it always has.
The Rose parade has been very lucky with fighting the elements. There have been several close calls with predicted storms, but the parade went on as scheduled. 2006 was not to be so lucky. Winds up to 45 miles per hour and 5 inches of rain fell during the parade. Attendance at the parade was disappointing low due to the storm. TV ratings also fell as a result of the rain. Poor visibility and the distracting background noise caused many viewers to lose interest early on.
