The Tournament of Roses 2012

Alright folks. This one is going to be about The Tournament of Roses Parade for 2012.

Happy New Year!

I worked last night until 3 am at Disneyland. But hey it was pretty fun, cant complain.

Alright for those of you who dont know the Tournament of Roses Parade will be tomorrow, not today. Why? Well the Rose Bowl Game is not held on January 1st when it falls on a Sunday, so that it doesnt compete with the NFL games.

"Since then the parade has been held in Pasadena every New Year's Day, except when January 1 falls on a Sunday. In that case, it is held on the subsequent Monday, January 2. This exception was instituted in 1893. Local tradition has it that "the Tournament has a deal with God; we'll never hold the parade on a Sunday, and He'll never let it rain on the Rose Parade." (Wikipedia)" Part of the reason the parade is never on Sundays is so that it doesnt interfere with local churches.

So the Parade will be tomorrow at 8 AM. It will be shown on ABC (national), NBC (national), HGTV, KTLA, Hallmark, Univision, Home and Garden, and KTLA online live feed.

The Parade was first started in 1890 by the Valley Hunt Club. Most of the members of the Valley Hunt Club were from the East Coast or Midwest, and this parade on New Years was a way of showing how nice the weather was compared to their former homes.

Professor Charles F. Holder announced, "In New York, people are buried in the snow. Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let's hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise."


The first floats were Horse Drawn carriages covered in flowers.


All of the Floats today have to be covered in flowers or seeds of some sort. It has to be something natural showing, it cant be artificial.


They also feature Equestrians and Bands from high schools, Los Angeles school district band, Marine Corps, Honor Band, Salvation Army band, colleges, international bands, and the two universities playing in the Rose Bowl Game.


Last year the Parade had an attendance of 700,000. Reaches 47 million viewers, and 28 million international viewers.


The Tournament House, headquarters for the Tournament of Roses, was William Wrigley's home. He donated it once his wife died in 1958. Wrigley is the founder of Wrigley's Chewing Gum.




Now there was an article by the LA Times. About a stronger police force in the Tournament of Roses, why? Because there is an Occupy the Rose Parade movement. Demonstrators of Occupy movement, made successful negotiations with Police and the Tournament of Roses to march after the Parade. The agreement was made so that there would be no violence, in hope that it would be peaceful.


Now in my opinion. I agree to an extent with this agreement of Occupy being allowed, but at the same time I dont think they should be at the Parade. There are certain days of the year we can forget about politics, war, economics, and worldy troubles. New Years Eve, New Years day, Christmas Eve and Christmas day, Easter, and Thanksgiving. They are taking an event of such tradition and worry free spirit and making it political. I really hope allowing Occupy to be here doesnt bring down the event, I hope occupy actually acts respectfully.