How do bands make the Rose Parade? After tears turn to joy, come pizza sales, sponsorships and march-a-thons

When you think Rose Parade, your mind goes to all those incredible floats covered in gorgeous flowers and the technical wizardry behind mechanical characters that move, spin, or belch smoke.

But not so, if you’re a band geek. You think of horns, drums, flag teams and the like, marching for 5.5 miles to throngs of spectators.

Any marching band lover or participant — but not many viewers — knows that each school or community marching band comes front-loaded with complex logistics, preparation plans greased in sweat and powered by fundraising cash that can well, beat the band — or sometimes total enough to get someone elected.

Just the cost is mind bending. That averages out at $2,000 to $2,500 per band member. For example, if a band has 300 members, that equals $600,000 to $750,000, said Terry Madigan, executive vice president of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. Heck, design and construction of a high quality float runs $275,000, according to the Tournament of Roses.

Why do these high school, college and community bands do it?

“Just marching down Colorado Boulevard in front of 700,000 people is more than most of these bands will ever do,” said Madigan, who is in charge of the Jan. 1, 2027 parade. Madigan has put out the invitations, processed the yeses, and booked those bands who can prove they can afford to pay their way. He has already chosen the 21 bands that will march in the 2027 parade.

Again, if you think like a band geek, you’ll know that the Rose Parade is at the top of all parades. It’s seen on television by 40 million to 50 million viewers. It’s previewed a few days before parade day in a Bandfest competition held at Pasadena City College. It is an overall experience and a half for a 16-year-old. Especially for those escaping cold weather, it’s a chance to be in sunny Pasadena and take in Southern California sites such as Universal Studios, Disneyland and dip their toes in the Pacific Ocean.

“It’s an opportunity these kids are never going to have again. They really want to come,” Madigan said. “The world really does look at us that way, ” he added. “It’s not like to most of us, where it is just January 1st.”

Band members and directors tell the TofR folks that this is a moment in a student’s life that is truly unforgettable. It’s a cliche steeped in truth.

“What we hear from people in these smaller towns is for many of these students, this is the first time they’ve left their city or state,” said Mark Leavens, president of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, in an interview on Dec. 4. “So, the experience of coming out here to Pasadena is a huge step in their lives.”

The bands are chosen by their musical ability, their sound, marching prowess and yes, whether they have enough support to make the trip and march. Usually that means putting up hundreds of kids, staff and chaperones in hotels, paying for meals, and oh yeah, those Disneyland tickets don’t come cheap.

After vetting hundreds of applications, Madigan as well as Leavens in charge of the upcoming parade, have chosen their bands. How? Usually by presenting the invite via a Zoom call. What’s the band leaders or student’s first reaction to hearing they’ve been accepted?

“They start crying,” Madigan said. “Because this parade is the pinnacle of a marching band’s career, particularly for the high school students. When I get on the Zoom calls and present the formal invitation, tears are not at all unusual. Plus, there are a lot of shocked faces.”

The bands are chosen about 18 months before the parade day and the vetting starts two years out. That’s so the bands can have time to fundraise using sales of everything from pizza to popcorn to mattresses. The administration also prepare all the travel logistics, Madigan said.

What if a band has trouble raising the money?

It happens, Madigan said, often with the international bands.

Leavens said the TofR has a fund to help pay for some students but can’t possibly pay for the bulk of them. That’s up to the parents and school and local community.

If the band bows out, they usually try again next year. Getting to the Rose Parade is like a minor league baseball player who can take years to make it to the big dance, the Major Leagues. Bands need to raise the money. But also, bands need to increase their stamina to be able to march 5.5 miles, which grows to 7 miles when figuring in pre- and post-staging, he said. That includes practice marching with a backpack full of books.

“So yeah, part of it is physical conditioning,” Madigan said.

Take Clovis High School’s band. The small city in central California outside of Fresno has applied five times. They were recently accepted for the 2027 parade on the fifth try, Madigan said.

“They are finally in shape enough and have raised the money to be in the 2027 parade,” he said. “We are so excited about them coming.”

For this band, they won’t fly but they’ll need to find enough buses to drive the hundreds of miles to Pasadena. And hotels cost big bucks. “Just being in Pasadena for a week before New Year’s is not an inexpensive time to be in Pasadena. They often take over entire hotels,” Madigan said.

Arcadia High School’s Apache Marching Band and Color Guard will be one of 19 bands marching on Jan. 1, 2026. This will be their 19th appearance. So they know the drill. And they also help many other visiting bands. A few years back, band parents took in students from an all-girls band from Denmark. Many years ago, band families opened their homes to band members from Australia, said Kevin Sherrill, band director, on Dec. 5.

For several years, AHS provided space for other bands’ to rehearse. They will cordon off Campus Drive for marching, he said. A few years ago, an honor band from Taiwan rehearsed at Arcadia High, he said. Last year the Ohio State University band rehearsed there.

“When a group comes in it is always exciting for our high school students to see college students at the level they perform,” Sherrill said.

Arcadia High’s band has a legacy of experience, from playing in two presidential inaugurations, to being in a Super Bowl commercial in 2015. On July 4, they’ll play at the Independence Day Parade in Washington, D.C. marking the 250th anniversary of the nation.

For July 4, they’ve been raising money through walk-a-thons, band events, popcorn sales and much more, he said. About 200 members are participating and it costs about $2,000 each, he said.

When bands travel from out-of-state, it raises the cost. That’s true for the Allen Eagle Escadrille Band from Allen, Texas, a city of about 112,000 population north of Dallas. They’ve come to the Rose Parade in 2006, 2016 and will be here for the 2026 parade. Every 10 years seems right.

Playing in this parade will cost them $1.6 million, said Philip Obado, director of bands, during an interview on Dec. 5. “It is a large dollar amount,” he said. About 515 of the 615 student band members will be performing at the Rose Parade. Most cover the cost from their parents, sponsorships, donations and fundraising revenues, he said.

“We’ve also had people sponsor students who needed help paying for the trip,” Obado said.

They are taking seven plane flights and filling two semi-trucks hauling equipment and instruments halfway across the country. Once in Southern California, they’ll ride in 11 charter buses to the venues. They’re staying at the Warner Center Marriott Woodland Hills, in the San Fernando Valley. They’ve secured permission to practice at Calabasas High School, Obado said.

The band benefits from playing in Friday Night Lights football games at Allen High School’s 19,000-seat stadium. That’s where the band gets practice and exposure to the community, who lends tremendous support, from sponsorships to donations from businesses like flower shops, Obado said.

The sheer size — one of the largest high school bands in the country — makes this behemoth a presence, both in Texas and in Pasadena on Jan. 1.

“It’s a freak of nature when you see us. We like to say we are the biggest band in the land, well, one of the biggest bands in the land,” said an upbeat Obado, who appeared calm. “I deal with stress pretty well,” he added.

Some bands go beyond raising money for their own expenses.

When Leavens visited a top band performing on Jan. 1, the Mino Jiyu Gakuen “Golden Bears” Green Band, from Mino Jihy Gakuen High School in a Toyonaka, Japan, the band’s director said the students should recognize the severe hardship of those who lost their homes in the Palisades and Eaton fires on Jan. 7-Jan. 8 2025.

“They said to them when they perform in the Rose Parade they should pay tribute to those people because of all they’ve gone through. So, those students raised $7,000 and gave that to us from out of their own pockets to help out the fire victims,” Leavens said.

Aside from their generosity, this band will include acrobatics from its cheerleader squad who will be coming with the band. The squad has receive 40 national titles.

“There are so many amazing stories” of bands who help others get to the Rose Parade in Pasadena, or in the case of Mino Jiyu Gakuen, helping those in Altadena, Pasadena and the Palisades, added Madigan.