There will be no Doo Dah Day this year. The nonprofit Light Bringer Project that owns the irreverent send-up of the Rose Parade said the Eaton and Palisades fires and concerns about education cuts prompted the decision.
Proceeds from the Doo Dah Parade, celebrating what would have been its 45th year, supports Light Bringer’s arts and education programs. So while the quirky, satirical, no-holds-barred celebration of all things unconventional boasts many a clever take on life, organizers said they also had to be fiscally smart about helping underserved Pasadena students.
“The wildfire crisis and other uncertainties have placed stress on our school programs in several ways,” said Patricia Hurley, the nonprofit’s managing director. “However, we’re determined to stay vital to those we serve all year long. In the larger picture, the question of where educational funding may or may not be coming from factored into our decision.”
The parade, dubbed the “twisted sister of the Rose Parade,” will return on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2026, at its original Old Pasadena location, event organizers said.
“We’re making a difficult decision but a responsible one,” Hurley said. “We know how many people love the parade, so have no doubt we’ll be back in full force.”
The Light Bringer Project, which also produces the annual Pasadena Chalk Festival, ArtNight and LitFest in the Dena, has made other adjustments to its offerings, relocating two art programs this spring and adding a summer program for school-aged youth at community center.
Fans and followers of the event with headliners such as the Briefcase Drill Team and the Million Mrs. Roper March point out the party is billed as “The Occasional Doo Dah Parade.”
However, a “No Doo Dah Day” party at a local venue is planned for November, the better to get in the parade’s playful spirit.
Natalie Flores, known as Queen Mama’s Sunshine during her reign as 2023’s Doo Dah Queen, said she will celebrate art and all its gifts then.
“I love my Pasadena community,” Flores said, adding the cancelation is sad, but if it boosts art programs, she’s all for it.
“We need art. Art helps us to innovate and problem solve. It gives relief to the side of our minds and hearts that are burdened. We need art if we are to move forward,” the Culver City resident said, adding in true ‘Doo’ fashion, “More art. Less a**holes.”
The Pasadena Doo Dah Parade burst into the City of Roses scene in 1978, an idea birthed over drinks by regulars at Chromo’s Bar and Grill in Old Pasadena. The Light Bringer Project took over the parade in 1995 and the offbeat antics was moved to East Pasadena.
It went virtual in 2019 because of the pandemic and returned to its in-person in-your-face glory, and the original Old Pasadena route, in 2023.