Every year, without fail, the Rose Parade in Pasadena reaps moments worth talking about beyond its two-hour runtime.
Last year, it was the return of the B-2 Stealth Bomber flyover and an incredible corner turn by a Japanese marching band. The year before, Snapchat’s zany filter-themed float might still ring a bell.
This year, highlights include “Wicked” references, an equity icon and strange-looking E Scooters. Without further ado, a full recap of the moments that you don’t want to ring the New Year in without seeing:
A cinephile’s Rose Parade
Something old, something new: Two fan-favorite movies made their way into this year’s parade, one a clever marketing scheme to get you to book that glamorous vacation to Illinois that you’ve been pondering and the other to get you to watch a movie-musical you *might* have heard of by now.
The “Wicked” float — a talker on TikTok before it even graced the parade route — was brought to parade viewers by Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. If you couldn’t guess, the cinematic adaptation of the Broadway musical phenomenon and one of the biggest box-office hits in 2024 is the featured attraction here.
The float was called “Defying Gravity” and the float’s namesake song was belted from speakers as it went by.
@smiley_bee_Float chasing!! #irwindale #wicked #wickedfloat #roseparade #pheonix decoratingcompany #wickedmovie #wickedforgood #defyinggravity
Another movie to make a showing? The beloved John Hughes flick “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
Recalling the 1986 teen comedy, in which the title character, played by Matthew Broderick, skipped school to explore the Windy City, the float from the Illinois Office of Tourism depicted several downtown Chicago skyscrapers, Wrigley Field and — via the floral version of masterpiece “A Sunday Afternoon” — the Art Institute of Chicago.
It’s titular punchline? “Play Hooky in Illinois.”
@enjoyillinoisWe’re soaking it ALL in and are ready for our BestDayEver, with a tribute to #Illinois and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for the 2025 @Rose Parade in Pasadena! Don’t miss an epic performance from Illinois-native Brian Culbertson as well as a few other surprise guests on New Year’s Day. #EnjoyIllinois #MiddleofEverything #2025RoseParade #FerrisBuellersDayOff
Also speaking cinematically, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s float paid tribute to the 100th anniversary of Charlie Chaplin’s classic 1925 film, “The Gold Rush” and his “Little Tramp” character.
Paradegoer Angel Giron of Lincoln Heights said he was excited to see the float because it honored the legendary film icon.
“I’m hoping to see other anniversary floats, because they know they have to do it big and proper and make it cool,” he said.
A moment for Billie Jean King
A sports and social equity icon drew big responses from the crowd.
Billie Jean King, with her distinctive dark hair and red-framed eyeglasses, and rose red blazer was unmistakable as she exited the Tournament House on Pasadena’s Orange Grove Avenue the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 1 to begin her duties as this year’s Rose Parade grand marshal.
As she rode along the parade route in a 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III, sitting beside her wife, Ilana Kloss, the tennis star and activist for women and LGBTQ+ rights was a beloved feature of this year’s event.
- The 2025 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Grand Marshal Billie Jean King waves to parade goers during the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Drew Kelley, Long Beach Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Pasadena Tournament of Roses Grand Marshal, Billie jean King, during the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
The 2025 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Grand Marshal Billie Jean King waves to parade goers during the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Drew Kelley, Long Beach Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The 2025 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Grand Marshal Billie Jean King waves to parade goers during the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Drew Kelley, Long Beach Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Floats worth talking about
There’s the actual float awards, and then there’s the unofficial people’s choice awards, judged only by which floats got people to pull out their phones and post their opinions on various social platforms.
Unsurprisingly, the Trader Joe’s float got people talking, as it usually does. This year’s floral characters included a lobster engineer (head of red cranberry seed, eyes of black beans and white navy beans, eyeliner of black onion powder, mouth of black beans and whiskers of dried cranberry seed) and a frog wearing a chef’s hat (green fine ground parsley and yellow split pea for the head, a body of green fine-ground parsley, and dark green spots of dark green mung beans).
- Trader Joe’s “Here We Go!” float, in the 2025 Rose Parade. (Courtesy, Tournament of Roses)
The city of Burbank “Having A-Lava Fun!” float during the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
The drone of the self-built La Canada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Rover Rendezvous float rises during a mechanical check in La Canada Flintridge on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The Coding for Veterans “Coming Home to New Beginnings” float during the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
The “Mississippi: The Birthplace of America’s Music” float during the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
A fiery volcano eruption on Burbank’s float, “Having A-Lava Fun!” spurred an “eruption” of reactions.
Colored smoke and live flames emitted from the float’s volcano made of moss, hand-crushed cocoa shells and onion seed, with flowing lava made of eight types of roses. As he volcano roared, baby dinosaurs pranced and played.
“Rover Rendezvous,” the 2025 La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association float, depicted a high-tech vehicle cruising on Mars — with some weird alien creatures popping out of the red-planet’s surface.
The Coding for Veterans float wowed crowds with its armed services-inspired float, complete with a battleship that shot off red flares.
The City of Downey chugged along the Rose Parade route with a train-themed float complete with a working train engine and cars that carried float riders along circulating train tracks.
The Visit Mississippi’s float honoring Elvis Presley and B.B. King made its debut in the Rose Parade an award-winning one, winning the Past Presidents Award at the 136th Rose Parade. Celebrating the state’s cultural legacy as the Birthplace of America’s Music, it featured floral representations of the “Two Kings” Presley and B.B. King, who would have turned 90 and 100 years old in 2025.
Bands of renown
The mammoth 605 All-star Marching Band stunned in its freeway-themed band uniforms. Very L.A.
Representing schools located along the 27 miles of the 605 Freeway in Los Angeles County, 500 students from two separate school districts joined forces for a march down Colorado Boulevard during the 136th Rose Parade, adorned in freeway-themed uniforms.
It was this year’s biggest band — and perhaps the biggest of all time.
- The 605 All Star Band marches through Old Pasadena during the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Members of the Jackson State University “Sonic Boom of the South” from Jackson, Mississippi perform during the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Members of the Kyoto Tachibana High School Green Band perform during the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Libby Cline-Birmingham, Contributing Photographer)
The Jackson State University band, “Sonic Boom of the South,” thrilled the crowd at the top of the parade route, with brass players hopping and jumping to the beat.
And at the turn from Orange Grove Boulevard onto Colorado Boulevard, the Kyoto Tachibana High School Green Band — wearing orange uniforms hence the nickname “orange devils” — dazzled the crowd.
Each line of the band dashed through the turn in a sweeping motion, followed in succession by the next line, then the next and so on.
Equestrian delights
What’s the Rose Parade without horses? Certainly not as cute.
This year, there were a few acts worth noting: Making their Rose Parade debut, the Northwest Spotted Drafts were a unique eight-horse hitch, showcasing the stunning black and white North American Spotted Draft horses known for their striking appearance, vibrant color and impressive performance.
And, of course, the fan-favorite mini therapy horses stole the show. A Southern California-based nonprofit, Mini Therapy Horses has provided emotional support and comfort through the presence of miniature horses since 2008, when it was founded.
@the.socal.localMeet the mini therapy horses that will be in the 2025 Rose Parade. In addition to participating in the New Year’s Day celebration, the Calabasas-based nonprofit group also bring their “tiny little horse angels” to Southern California hospitals to spread cheer. #Pasadena #RoseParade #Calabasas #horses #horse #minitherapyhorses #minihorses
Traveling suitcase?
Reporting live from the parade route, our veteran Rose Parade reporter Lisa Jacobs dispatched that Honda’s “motocompactos” — the car-maker’s brand new E Scooter were the talk of the stands.
A Rose Parade official rides a Honda Motocompacto down Colorado Blvd. during the opening of the 136th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The rectangular-shaped, zero-emission scooters were designed to replace the gas-guzzling ones powered by internal combustion engines that were used during past Rose Parades. They were ridden by more than 100 volunteers who will guide the floats along the 5.2-mile route of the 2025 Rose Parade on Jan. 1.
CBS Rose Parade co-anchor Darren M. Hayes showed one off on TikTok:
@darrenmhaynesAs your co-host of this year’s Rose Parade on New Year’s Day, I got a chance to ride the brand new MOTOCOMPACTO and got an exclusive tour of Rose Bowl Stadium.
Staff writers Teresa Liu, Steve Scauzillo, Christina Merino, Anissa Rivera and Mercedes Cannon-Tran contributed to this report.
Originally Published: January 1, 2025 at 11:03 AM PST
