Practical View : Best Places to Sit to See It All

Fran Benuska has been attending Tournament of Roses parades for 21 years. The San Marino realtor advises spectators to stake out their turf on Orange Grove Boulevard near the parade’s starting point.

“It’s a beautiful street,” she says. “That’s where the wealthy people built their estates at the turn of the century. It’s a nice wide street and very well maintained.

“The bands are just starting out. On the corner of Colorado and Orange Grove boulevards is where all the TV cameras are. (The bands) always play to TV, so you get the benefit of that.”

Tim Thornton, an architectural draftsman and 20-year parade veteran, has another opinion. He recommends Sierra Madre Boulevard where the Parade turns left from Colorado.

“That’s the best view,” he says of the east Pasadena location near the end of the route. “This is the only place the floats come straight at you, and then you see the whole right side because (they’re) turning left.

“It’s kind of a bottleneck, so bands end up staying there and playing,” he adds.

Sitting near the end also means spectators can arrive later, says Thornton, and parking is easier on the east side of town.

He advises viewers along Colorado Boulevard to sit on the north side, in the sun: “If you sit on the south side you’re in the shade. I’d guess it’s 10 degrees cooler.”

On Orange Grove, Benuska says, “the trick is to get on the (east) side of street so the sun is not in your eyes.”

Although Benuska has a reserved seat this year, in the past her family has gotten good seats without a reservation.

“Many people sleep out,” she says.

“They’re stretched out along the street and taking more room than they do when they stand up. So when they stand up we’d put our chairs down. We could almost always get second or third row seats even if we got there only an hour or an hour and a half before the parade.”