One of seven Pasadena-area high school seniors will be named the 108th Rose Queen on Tuesday, Oct. 27, when the Pasadena Tournament of Roses conducts its announcement and coronation ceremony at Tournament House.
The seven members of the 2027 Rose Court include three students who attend Pasadena schools. The public ceremony will take place as activities surrounding the New Year’s Day Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game ramp up.
The Rose Queen tradition dates to 1905. Tuesday’s selection will crown the 108th Rose Queen and continue the court’s annual role in representing Pasadena’s New Year’s celebration.
The announcement will take place on the front steps of Tournament House, 391 S. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena.
Tournament President Terry Madigan is scheduled to “open the envelope” to announce the selection and to crown the new Queen.
The Rose Queen will wear a jeweled Mikimoto crown adorned with hundreds of Akoya cultured pearls, 10 Australian white South Sea pearls and six carats of diamonds. The elaborate headpiece weighs more than three pounds and has been valued at $400,000, according to a Mikimoto spokesperson.
The new Rose Queen will serve alongside six fellow Rose Court members as an ambassador for the Tournament of Roses, participating in community activities leading up to the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game on New Year’s Day.
Three members of the court attend Pasadena schools: Evita Cielo Bridge of Mayfield Senior School, Maria Teresa Monserrat McDonald of Thurgood Marshall Secondary School and Elizabeth Tabaro Kengaju Rweyemamu of Polytechnic School.
McDonald, a student-athlete who captains her school’s cross-country and track and field teams, volunteers with the Altadena WILD Student Ambassador Program and has supported youth programs through the Pasadena Education Foundation, according to biographical information supplied by the Tournament.
Rweyemamu leads Panthers Forward, a community engagement club supporting low-income families, and heads The Polygraph, Polytechnic School’s literary magazine. Bridge serves on her school’s Athletic Leadership Council, is student director of the dance team and volunteers with organizations supporting hospitalized children and individuals with Down syndrome.
The other four court members are Tessa Rose Choi of La Cañada High School, Daniela Anaíd Guzmán of Arcadia High School, Irene Lim Maddox of Eagle Rock High School and Lucy Joyce Wendling of San Marino High School.
Their activities include youth entrepreneurship, community service, journalism, athletics and programs supporting people with special needs, according to their Tournament biographies.
The seven members were announced Sept. 28 following a selection process involving students from Pasadena-area schools. Tournament officials said volunteer members of the Queen and Court Committee considered academic achievement, school and community involvement, public speaking abilities and youth leadership.
Each court member receives a $7,500 educational scholarship, according to the Tournament of Roses.
The 2027 Rose Court is scheduled to ride on a float along Colorado Boulevard during the 138th Rose Parade on Friday, Jan. 1, 2027. Its members also will attend the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the 113th Rose Bowl Game that day.
The Oct. 27 ceremony is open to the public, according to the Tournament’s media advisory.
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
