Pasadena Tournament Of Roses Offers Fourth Sneak Peek At 2024 Rose Parade Floats

Get ready to march to the beat of floral brilliance at the 135^th Rose Parade® presented by Honda, where these flower-powered floats will orchestrate a symphony of color down Colorado Blvd. on New Year’s Day! Today, the Tournament of Roses offers a Sneak Peek unveiling five magnificent displays of floral wonder that will delight the global audience.

Since its inception in 1890, the Rose Parade has been a dazzling showcase of creativity. Every float entry tells a captivating tale through its unique theme and visuals, truly bringing these beautiful floats to life. Get ready to sneak a peek at the official float renderings from the City of Hope, ESPN, Kindness is Free powered by the Boys and Girls Clubs, La Cañada Flintridge and Shriner’s Childrens. These floats are getting ready to hit the streets and harmonize their way into your hearts with its theme—”Celebrating a World of Music.”

The floats will journey the 5 ½ mile Parade route displaying their symbolic and spectacular storytelling sure to be embraced by millions of streetside and broadcast viewers from across the country and around the world drawn to America’s New Year Celebration.

City of Hope

City of Hope, a world-renowned cancer research and treatment organization, is a leader in bone marrow transplants and immunotherapy, a treatment that enhances the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. The float showcases stories of cancer patients who triumphed over their diagnosis, featuring float riders who are patients with shared stories of doctors, nurses and caregivers who provided lifesaving treatments and compassionate care. At the front of the float is City of Hope’s Golter Gate in the Rose Garden as a reminder that City of Hope doesn’t treat diseases: it treats people. Inscription from one of City of Hope’s early leaders, Samuel H. Golter, reads: “There is no profit in curing the body, if in the process, we destroy the soul.” The float features oversized roses and trees leading to a vibrant carousel adorned with mirrors, butterflies and trees with doves of peace. Through this float, City of Hope conveys their message of hope, resilience and compassionate care, demonstrating their dedication to patients’ well-being and their pioneering contributions to cancer research and treatment.

ESPN

In celebration of the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship Game, ESPN invites fans to join them on ‘The Road to Houston on ESPN’ as we crown a national champion. College football is a story that takes place Saturdays every fall in front of hundreds of thousands of fans. Sometimes in “The Swamp” or in the desert, and even on top of mountains. College football is a sport rich in tradition, and the fan experiences among these atmospheres are what makes the sport so popular and unique. This float celebrates the four semifinal teams—Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama—whose stories meet at The Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential and The Allstate Sugar Bowl and those who make the sport special, the fans. Who will write the next page in Houston, holding this year’s National Championship crown? May the Best Story Win.

Kindness is Free powered by the Boys and Girls Clubs

Boys & Girls Clubs of America has a 160-year history with continued support for 3.6 million youth nationwide. Based in Southern California since 1972, the Boys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley & Eastside fosters competence, usefulness, belonging and influence in young people aged 6–17, providing structured activities after school and during holidays. Their parade float champions the “Kindness is Free” movement, with more than 30 parade walkers carrying flags that read, “KINDNESS IS FREE.” The float reminds viewers that there is no such thing as a small act of kindness as demonstrated by a loving and whimsical elephant leading with his heart and offering shelter to a sweet mouse. The elephant is decorated with blue, purple and pink statice, his ears with lavender mums, toenails and tusk with sesame seed, and the lei around his neck is made up of hot pink carnations and orchids. The nearly six-foot-tall mouse is decorated with lettuce seed, Spanish moss, corn husk and onion seed. The Boys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley & Eastside wants to bring awareness and call on others across the nation to join them in promoting kindness. Visit www.kindnessisfree.org to join the movement and pledge for a kinder world.

La Cañada Flintridge

This city of La Cañada Flintridge first celebrated the new year with the Rose Parade in 1979. The city’s float this year titled, “Flower Power,” will be the 45th float in the city’s history. Peace and love never go out-of-fashion as the music of the literal floral band, Flower Power, represents an all-encompassing tribute to the thousands who have made joyful noise throughout the years. The band made of strawflower, statice, iris petals and roses rides on the back end of a cutaway school bus. Morgan, the determined red rose, drives the performing band in an iconic hippie bus painted to represent that of the 1967 Summer of Love. Lead guitarist, Sean the Sunflower, and Slick Stix, the daisy drummer, keep the beat for this rocking group. Husband and wife team, Jack Mack and Paula Sam, provide the inspired vocals of the willowy snapdragon and swaying iris. A miniature “group-bee” bus made from a former soap box derby shell and electric skateboard motors leads the way with two “group-bees” proudly named by the Gant family: ‘Beeyonce’ and Taylor ‘You Beelong With Mee’ Swift. The float explores the 1960s era of music culminating in the hope of a more peaceful and joyful world.

Shriners Children’s

Since the first Shriners Hospital opened in 1922 in Shreveport, Louisiana, the over 100-year legacy of Shriners Children’s is extraordinary—with exceptional individualized treatment and care provided for children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate. Music therapy is routinely incorporated in the care plan as it can offer comfort during a procedure, help reduce anxiety and provide a way to communicate beyond any language. The float, “Believe in Tomorrow” depicts a triumphant concert in a beautiful botanical garden featuring a young girl in a lavender mum dress playing a strawflower and black bean cello. The Pediatric Orthotics and Prosthetic Services team at Shriners Children’s designed a custom prosthetic device for her arm, made of shiny grey silverleaf, so she can joyfully play her beloved instrument. Shriners Children’s mascot Fezzy is looking dapper in his red cranberry seed bow tie, ground rice shirt and black seaweed tuxedo pants as he plays the violin made of bronze fine cut strawflower. Some very special individuals riding the float are International Patient Ambassadors Gianna and Juan Diego, joined by Shriners International’s First Lady JoLynn Dickins and the CEO of Shriners Children’s and head of the Shriners International fraternity, James E. “Ed” Stolze Jr.

Join us on January 1, 2024, to experience the awe and wonder of the floats, bands and equestrian units of the 135th Rose Parade presented by Honda.