Quick facts

How many flowers are used on the floats in the parade?
18 million.

What materials are used to create the floats?
A steel frame is constructed to give the float its shape and strength, and is then placed over some sort of propulsion mechanism. After that, the float is cocooned or sprayed with foam that hardens and is painted in the colors of the flowers that it will hold. Dried materials like bark, seeds and other organic materials are applied first. The live flowers are not put on the float until a few days before the parade. All of the live flowers are kept in vials of water to keep them fresh.

How much glue is used on all the floats?
5,000 gallons.

How many tons of steel are used to build the floats?
600 tons.

How many floats are awarded trophies each year?
25.

How many horses are in the parade every year?
300.

What is the most-played song of the bands?
“Everything’s Coming up Roses.”

Which band has been in the parade the most times?
The Salvation Army Band. It has marched in every parade since 1920.

Who has been a grand marshal more than once?
Four people: Bob Hope (1947 and 1969), President Richard Nixon (1953 and 1960), Earl Warren (1943 and 1955) and Shirley Temple Black (1939, 1989 and 1999).

What has been the average temperature in Pasadena on parade day?
68 degrees.

How many times has it rained on the parade?
Ten times: 1895, 1899, 1906, 1910, 1916, 1922, 1934, 1937, 1955 and 2006.

How many contestants try out to be a member of the Rose Court?
In recent history, more than 1,100 try out each year.

Who is the most famous Rose Queen?
2000 Rose Queen Sophia Bush is an actress now appearing in the CW series “One Tree Hill.”

What year was the first Rose Queen chosen? Who was she?
1905: Hallie Woods.

How many people watched the first Rose Parade?
2,000.

How long was that first parade?
Parade officials don’t know for sure, but estimate it was two miles long.

How long will the parade be this year?
5.5 miles.

Has there ever been a year without a parade?
In 1942. The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and the government advised organizers not to hold the parade for reasons of national security. Queen Dolores Jean Brubach and her court drove quietly down Colorado Boulevard past a few pedestrians on the all-but deserted street. Sixteen members of the Tournament of Roses band formed a “V for Victory” and marched down Colorado Boulevard playing military songs and singing “Stout-Hearted Men.” The tournament’s committee members and city administrators gathered at a luncheon at the Huntington Hotel. On display were 33 miniatures of floats that would have been in the parade.

How many people work on the parade?
The 935 tournament members log about 80,000 volunteer hours a year planning and operating the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game. That number does not include the many volunteers who assist the float builders with decorating floats.

How many people watch the parade in person?
About 700,000.

How many people watch the parade on TV?
About 51.9 million people in the U.S. watched the 2010 Rose Parade. It is also broadcast to more than 220 countries and territories outside of the U.S.

How many spectators attended last year’s Rose Bowl Game?
93,963.

How many out-of-town guests arrive for the parade?
500,000.

What is the estimate of the parade’s total dollar impact on Southern California?
$400 million.

How much does the Tournament of Roses Foundation donate annually to nonprofit organizations?
The Tournament of Roses Foundation, a nonprofit corporation created in 1983 by the Tournament of Roses Assn. to receive contributions from its members, supporters and the general public, makes annual grants to nonprofit organizations in the Pasadena area. The donations fund sports and recreation, visual and performing arts, and leadership development programs.

To date, the Tournament of Roses Foundation has donated more than $2 million to more than 130 organizations. In 2010, these grant awards totaled $100,375 and ranged from $1,957 to $8,400 per organization. The average grant award was $5,018.