January 1 2011 California
The very first Tournament of the Roses was staged in 1890 by members of the Valley Hunt Club, who were former residents of the East and Midwest, eager to showcase their new home’s mild winter weather, while people in New York were up to their ears in snow, their flowers were blooming in the sunny temperate weather.In 1916, to enhance the day’s festivities organisers added a football game, the crowds soon outgrew the stands in Tournament Park, and a new stadium was built, this new stadium hosted its first New Year’s football game in 1923 and soon earned the nickname The Rose Bowl.
Today, millions of visitors and participants from around the world bring in the New Year with the annual Rose Parade featuring the beautiful pageantry paying tribute to the tradition of magnificent floral floats, equestrian parades and high spirited marching bands.
The Tournament of Roses has come a long way since its humble beginnings, the Rose Parade’s elaborate floats now feature high-tech computerized animation and only natural materials are allowed to be used, the floats must be completely covered with flowers and greenery, with an average float requiring up to
100 000 blossoms, the average cost of a finished float is somewhere between $75 000 and $250 000 depending on the size and mechanics of the float.
It is estimated that more than 500 000 roses in vials are used in each parade. Although a few floats are still built exclusively by volunteers from their sponsoring communities, most are built by professional float building companies and take almost the entire year to construct. This effort never fails to pay off on New Year’s morning, when millions of viewers from around the world tune in on their TV’s to enjoy the festivities.
About a million people flock to Pasadena to watch the 8.8km stretch that is the Tournament of Roses each year, this event has been a sell out every year since 1947.
The Tournament of Roses encompasses more than just the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game. In the weeks and days leading up to the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game there are a variety of special events that add to the enjoyment and excitement of the Tournament.
