Floatfest gives a closer look, smell of 2025 Rose Parade’s moving masterpieces

Look very closely, but don’t touch.

Many people braved the cold, camping out overnight and trekking dark mornings in Pasadena to get the perfect view of the 136th Tournament of Roses Parade. But others wait for the post-parade experience that gets them a few feet away from the festive floats that just before road 5.5 miles through the city.

Floatfest, a showcase of all 39 floats in the 2025 Rose Parade, gives spectators an up-close and personal look at the parade’s main attractions. People learn more about what goes into creating the floats, take selfies with their favorite designs and more during the three-day event that started just after the parade on Jan. 1.

Usually 70,000 people make their way to Sierra Madre and Washington Boulevards to view the floats after the Rose Parade each year. But this time around, 120,000 people are expected over the three days, officials said on Wednesday.

Also see full Rose Parade coverage here

On day one, spectators waited in line on Sierra Madre Boulevard, curving onto the intersecting Paloma Street.

“The sun is shining, there’s music, it’s nice,” said Floatfest-goer Norah Glass as she waited in line to enter.

She and her father, Will Glass, were looking forward to seeing Illinois’ float that featured Wrigley Field, a nod to their hometown. They picked other favorites to view, like “Wicked,” after watching the parade on TV Wednesday morning.

The event continued Thursday, a crisp and sunny day, and folks have one more chance on Friday, Jan. 3 to get a first-hand view of the floats.

At the pre-weekend event, there’s live entertainment, a video wall, food trucks, a bar and beer and wine garden on top of the float-viewing. There’s also a scavenger hunt where attendees can collect trading cards from nine floats, marked on the event maps.

Folks can get close enough to smell the fresh flowers see the details on each float that parade goers couldn’t catch, like rice and other grains pieced together to create mosaic tiles on the Sierra Madre Rose Float Association’s “Fiesta!” design. But the floats are still barricaded off so people can’t pick off flowers, climb or otherwise damage the parade-crafts that took nearly a year to create.

Spokespeople were stationed at most floats, on hand to answer questions, and winning floats had their award titles displayed by them. Booths representing the organizations that entered floats also doled out information about their respective missions, like Coding for Veterans‘ program that teaches retired military personnel a new technical skill.

Explore Louisiana, which has now participated in the Rose Parade for four years now, gave away wooden roux spoons, alligator and Mardi Gras beads, mask and alligator pins, Cajun seasoning and more to visitors during Floatfest on Jan. 1.

“Floatfest is a wonderful opportunity to show the SoCal audience what Louisiana is all about,” said Charlie Whinham, spokesperson for the Louisiana Office of Tourism. “The folks at Floatfest love Louisiana; we were working over four hours non-stop handing out gift bags wishing everyone a happy new year and happy Mardi Gras.”

“We love a parade,” he added, touting Mardi Gras season beginning Jan. 6 and Louisiana being known for its more than 400 fairs and festivals held annually across the state.

Parts of taller floats like Go Bowling and Honda’s Electrified Dreams were turned back upright once they made it to the showcase, as their peaks had to be bent backward during the final stretch of the parade in order to dip underneath the 210 freeway overpass at Sierra Madre Boulevard.

Much more than just roses, some of the types of flowers that typically adorn the moving masterpieces are orchids, irises, daisies, carnations, hydrangeas and more. Other common materials used to build floats are lentils, cocoa sticks, moss, cranberry seeds, cabbage seeds, onion seeds and much more.

Some entries tied the materials to the mission of the organizations they represented.

The CORE Kidney Foundation’s “It’s In Your Hands: It Takes 2” float, for example, had the kidney disease awareness organization’s name spelled out in red kidney beans.

If you go

Floatfest continues from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3 at Sierra Madre and Washington Boulevards in Pasadena. Tickets are $25 online only; free for children 5 and younger. Park and ride shuttles take people to and from the festival at Pasadena City College, and 1570 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, as well as the PCC extension lot, 3035 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena.

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