Growing up in the area, there were years where we'd bring our whole family up to the curbside of the #RoseParade and camp out for a day or two ahead of time. Just floats, bands, equestrians.
It's a little weird to see them going for the Super Bowl type-spectacle now. I'm both impressed & disgusted.
Esp with Honda as a sponsor, we get really auto-oriented BS in the beginning. #HappyNewYear
The Rose Parade, while now broadcast worldwide, started as a local tradition of (mostly wealthy) Easterners celebrating now living in the West, thumbing their nose at folks back East by having a floral celebration in the middle of winter.
It started with horse-drawn carts decorated with roses and other flowers.
The floral element can always be pulled into a direction about the Earth, but the parade's roots as the conspicuous consumption of wealthy folks #RoseParade
makes holding a show that starts with people performing inside automobiles not far from its roots, I guess.
I keep wishing the Rose Parade would show some climate leadership and go completely retro: Human- and animal-powered vehicles only. US-grown flowers applied by local workers. I honestly think they have enough clout with corporate types they could probably create some pressure to do that.
It would be a nice example (though still waste because we no one needs this).
Unexpected way to see cyclists in the parade - the New Buffalo Soldiers group representing the Iron Riders of the 25th Infantry. When the military was checking out bicycles as an alternative to cavalry.