Every year, without fail, the Rose Parade in Pasadena reaps moments worth talking about beyond its two-hour runtime.
Last year, it was the return of the B-2 Stealth Bomber flyover and an incredible corner turn by a Japanese marching band. The year before, Snapchat’s zany filter-themed float might still ring a bell.
This year, highlights include “Wicked” references, an equity icon and strange-looking E Scooters. Without further ado, a full recap of the moments that you don’t want to ring the New Year in without seeing:
A cinephile’s Rose Parade
Something old, something new: Two fan-favorite movies made their way into this year’s parade, one a clever marketing scheme to get you to book that glamorous vacation to Illinois that you’ve been pondering and the other to get you to watch a movie-musical you *might* have heard of by now.
The “Wicked” float — a talker on TikTok before it even graced the parade route — was brought to parade viewers by Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. If you couldn’t guess, the cinematic adaptation of the Broadway musical phenomenon and one of the biggest box-office hits in 2024 is the featured attraction here.
The float was called “Defying Gravity” and the float’s namesake song was belted from speakers as it went by.
@smiley_bee_ Float chasing!! #irwindale #wicked #wickedfloat #roseparade #pheonix decoratingcompany #wickedmovie #wickedforgood #defyinggravity
The second movie to make a showing? A reference to the beloved “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Recalling the 1986 teen comedy, in which the title character, played by Matthew Broderick, skipped school to explore the Windy City, the float from the Illinois Office of Tourism depicted several downtown Chicago skyscrapers, Wrigley Field and — via the floral version of masterpiece “A Sunday Afternoon” — the Art Institute of Chicago.
It’s titular punchline? “Play Hooky in Illinois.”
@enjoyillinois We’re soaking it ALL in and are ready for our BestDayEver, with a tribute to #Illinois and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for the 2025 @Rose Parade in Pasadena! Don’t miss an epic performance from Illinois-native Brian Culbertson as well as a few other surprise guests on New Year’s Day. #EnjoyIllinois #MiddleofEverything #2025RoseParade #FerrisBuellersDayOff
A moment for Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King, with her distinctive dark hair and red-framed eyeglasses, and rose red blazer was unmistakable as she exited the Tournament House on Pasadena’s Orange Grove Avenue the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 1 to begin her duties as this year’s Rose Parade grand marshal.
As she rode along the parade route in a 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III, sitting beside her wife, Ilana Kloss, the tennis star and activist for women and LGBTQ+ rights was a beloved feature of this year’s event.
Acts worth talking about
There’s the actual float awards, and then there’s the unofficial people’s choice awards, judged only by which floats got people to pull out their phones and post their opinions on various social platforms.
Unsurprisingly, the Trader Joe’s float got people talking, as it usually does. This year’s floral characters included a lobster engineer (head of red cranberry seed, eyes of black beans and white navy beans, eyeliner of black onion powder, mouth of black beans and whiskers of dried cranberry seed) and a frog wearing a chef’s hat (green fine ground parsley and yellow split pea for the head, a body of green fine-ground parsley, and dark green spots of dark green mung beans).
Also turning heads, Southern California’s 605 All-star Marching Band stunned in its freeway-themed band uniforms. Very LA.
Representing schools located along the 27 miles of the 605 Freeway in Los Angeles County, 500 students from two separate school districts joined forces for a march down Colorado Boulevard during the 136th Rose Parade, adorned in freeway-themed uniforms.
Equestrian delights
What’s the Rose Parade without horses? Certainly not as cute.
This year, there were a few acts worth noting: Making their Rose Parade debut, the Northwest Spotted Drafts were a unique eight-horse hitch, showcasing the stunning black and white North American Spotted Draft horses known for their striking appearance, vibrant color and impressive performance.
And, of course, the fan-favorite mini therapy horses stole the show. A Southern California-based nonprofit, Mini Therapy Horses has provided emotional support and comfort through the presence of miniature horses since 2008, when it was founded.
@the.socal.local Meet the mini therapy horses that will be in the 2025 Rose Parade. In addition to participating in the New Year’s Day celebration, the Calabasas-based nonprofit group also bring their “tiny little horse angels” to Southern California hospitals to spread cheer. #Pasadena #RoseParade #Calabasas #horses #horse #minitherapyhorses #minihorses
Traveling suitcase?
Reporting live from the parade route, our veteran Rose Parade reporter Lisa Jacobs dispatched that Honda’s “motocompactos” — the car-maker’s brand new E Scooter were the talk of the stands.
The rectangular-shaped, zero-emission scooters were designed to replace the gas-guzzling ones powered by internal combustion engines that were used during past Rose Parades. They were ridden by more than 100 volunteers who will guide the floats along the 5.2-mile route of the 2025 Rose Parade on Jan. 1.
CBS Rose Parade co-anchor Darren M. Hayes showed one off on TikTok:
@darrenmhaynes As your co-host of this year’s Rose Parade on New Year’s Day, I got a chance to ride the brand new MOTOCOMPACTO and got an exclusive tour of Rose Bowl Stadium.