Two Popular Parades Face Cloudy Future : Pageantry: Doo Dah event’s organizer says unruly crowds may mean an end to free admission. And the Hollywood Christmas Parade can no longer count on city funding.

Two local parades are ready to march into the history books.

Organizers say the Doo Dah Parade’s madcap mayhem is history, and Hollywood Christmas Parade producer Johnny Grant is telling people that the show may not go on next year.

Doo Dah founder Peter Apanel said Sunday’s unruly, free-for-all parade was the last of its kind with 40,000 spectators, some of whom spit at participants, hurled tortillas at the crowd and plunged into blocked-off streets on the one-mile route. He is even thinking about moving the parade out of Pasadena.

“After yesterday, it’s 100% certain that I’ll change the logistical nature of the parade,” said Apanel, who added that a spectator spit on him after being admonished for tossing tortillas. “It will no longer be a free event, open to the public.”

Grant said he anticipates losing financial support from the cash-strapped city of Los Angeles and doesn’t know where the Hollywood Christmas Parade will find money for its 62nd running next year.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Grant said. “Nobody does. We’re praying we’ll be able to find a miracle somewhere.”

The Doo Dah Parade, in its 18th year, has always marched to the beat of a different drummer, with entries such as an inflatable-doll dance squad and the Church of the Ornamental Lawn Decorations, dedicated to pink flamingos.

But organizer Apanel said what once was spontaneity--such as the tossing of tortillas--has turned into reckless abandon to the point where Apanel fears for the crowd’s safety. The Pasadena City Council, in fact, approved an ordinance that makes tortilla tossing illegal.

Last year’s parade got so out of hand that the Synchronized Briefcase Drill Team--an expensively suited group of marching businessmen--declined to do their thing this year.

“To subject an $800 suit to somebody’s Coke? Who needs it?” said banker Jim Kemp, 47, who said the group would consider a return performance in a scaled-down parade.

Apanel, 41, also said the parade is barely scraping by. He would not give specific figures but said there is no way the parade can go on as a free event. Apanel, who runs the parade as his full-time job, said he is considering changing the format into a smaller festival-style gathering for about 5,000 people who would pay $5 each.

Next week, Apanel said, he will write a letter to Pasadena city officials, asking for their help and suggestions for changing the format. He also will look for sites in other cities.

In Hollywood, parade organizers have been put on notice that the city of Los Angeles cannot be counted on to come up with the $350,000 cost of the parade next year. This year, the city almost stuck parade organizers with an $80,000 bill for traffic control--a service traditionally provided for free--until Mayor Tom Bradley vetoed the ordinance.

Finances were so dicey that the parade came “pretty close” to not happening, Grant said. He said he will look for corporate sponsors to pick up the slack. The 3.2-mile parade drew up to 1 million spectators Sunday and was televised in 154 cities nationwide and in 80 countries.

Councilman John Ferraro said he will work with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the parade, to figure out how to make the event continue.

“We have to find out how it’s put together, and we have to sit and talk and see how they can help and how we can help.”

Ferraro said he could not foresee what percentage of the cost the city might contribute.