page_title: Rose Parade
section_title: Operations and the parade
hierarchical_section_title: Rose Parade / Volunteers / Operations and the parade
caption_attribution_description: Tournament of Roses volunteers prepping flowers
context_page_description: The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade, is an annual parade to mark the start of the Rose Bowl Game, held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, on New Year's Day. Produced by the non-profit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, the parade usually starts at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time, and includes flower-covered floats, marching bands, and equestrian units. The parade is followed in the afternoon by the Rose Bowl, one of the major bowl games in college football. It has been uninterrupted, except during the World War II in 1942, 1943 and 1945, and for the 2021 parade, which was canceled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
  First held on January 1, 1890, hundreds of thousands of spectators watch the Rose Parade. The Rose Bowl college football game was added in 1902 to help fund the cost of staging the parade. Since 2011, Honda sponsors the Rose Parade. Accordingly, the company has the parade's first float, which like all floats, follows the parade's theme.
  The 2020 Rose Parade featured 40 floats, 17 equestrian units with over 450 horses, and 20 marching bands.
context_section_description: The Tournament of Roses has become such a large event that it requires 65,000 hours of combined manpower each year, or the equivalent of roughly 7.42 years of combined manpower. Fortunately for the Association, the group has 935 members, each of whom is assigned to one of 34 committees, and around 50 student ambassadors. Responsibilities include:
  Selecting Parade participants
  Inspecting and testing floats for safe and reliable operation
  Assembling the parade elements
  Conducting the parade through the streets of Pasadena
  Directing visitors on New Year's Day
  Assisting the public and the media in viewing the parade
  Giving presentations about the Tournament to community groups
  Supervising elements of the Rose Bowl Game (and also the BCS National Championship Game when held in Pasadena)
  During the Parade, many Tournament members are required to wear white suits with red ties, name tags, membership pins and official ribbons. Because of this, the volunteers are commonly referred to as "White Suiters." In December each year, a fleet of white vehicles with special "ToR" license plates are seen throughout the San Gabriel Valley. The use of these cars is currently donated by American Honda for use by high-ranking Tournament members.
  Each year, an honor troop of Eagle Scouts from the San Gabriel Valley Council, (now GLAAC), and "The Tournament Troop" of Girl Scout Gold Award recipients of the Arcadia Service Unit of the Girl Scouts Greater Los Angeles, is selected to carry the parade banners down the route. Each year, for the last 35 years, more than 100 scouts have participated.
  The Tournament of Roses Radio Amateurs (TORRA) provided audio communications and video co-ordination for the parade officials through the use of Amateur radio from 1968 until 2005. With over 300 ham radio operators in TORRA there were several ham radio sites along the parade route equipped with amateur television as well as 2-way ham radios. Several mobile units – including motorcycles and pedestrian units (creepie-peepies) provided the video coverage. With modern technology and cell phone service, TORRA was no longer needed.
  Thousands more volunteers help cover the floats in those beautiful flower and seed mixes during "Deco week," Dec 26- parade day. Many of these come back year after year, some even camp nearby to help all week long.
caption: Volunteers
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