2026 Rose Parade is in the books, capturing the ‘world’s stage’ amid a challenging storm

Piles of plastic ponchos. Bulging trash bags. Remnants of roses left at Pasadena Metro stations. Street barricades and portable toilets. Busy restaurants.

Reminders of Thursday’s Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game, part of a holiday week, were disappearing from Pasadena streets Friday, as hundreds of thousands of visitors exit the city, making their way back home and as crews expedite cleanup and traffic flow.

While the Crown City slowly gets back to normal, the earliest accounts of the last several days tell the story of a successful, yet rainy parade, a blowout game dominated by No. 1 Indiana University, and yet, some things that remain unresolved.

Broadly speaking, considering the tournament faced its first rain in 20 years – and only the 11th parade-time shower in its 137-year history — it appeared to achieve its perennial purpose: A global Southern California showcase, drawing the eyes of thousands along its 5.5-mile route, and a huge audience.

Even from a TV monitor, it was still an exhibition of floral pageantry, tightly packed into two hours of major broadcast time, which gave viewers stuff to talk about – from opening, middle and closing performances to giant eagles and a Kermit the Frog and from the relentless smile and thumbs ups from Grand Marshal Magic Johnson to the resilient beats and brass of marching bands from around the country and the world. There were the tributes to wildfire victims and survivors to the triumphs of magestic and quirky floats.

“The parade once again showed that Pasadena is resilient, strong and is capable of capturing the world’s stage regardless of the challenges before us,” said Mayor Victor Gordo, reflecting on the day in which he too rode in the parade.

He touted the city, its visitors this week and the Tournament of Roses for making the event a success.

“It was certainly a challenge to put on a worldwide event in the midst of the storm,” he said.

Some even surmised that it was because of the rain that the parade somehow seemed more vibrant, more beautiful – the colorful floats against the backdrop of a grey-sky day.

Of course, with rain most of the parade, the day had its hiccups: the grounded B-2 bomber flyover over the parade (but revived hours later with a rousing end-of-halftime flight over the Rose Bowl Game); a few rain-scarred floats, and a tow.

Of those moments, there was the matter of a homemade sign demanding Attorney General Rob Bonta investigate the Eaton fire that destroyed large segments of Altadena, killing 19 people. It was carried on the official float honoring the fire victims.

The sign read: “AG Bonta Altadena Demands An Investigation.” The sign was ripped out of the hands of the two women who held it by Tournament of Roses officials “who will handle the incident internally,” reported Lisa Derderian, a spokesperson for the city of Pasadena on Friday, Jan. 2.

It was carried by Gina Clayton-Johnson and Shimica Gaskins, who both lost their homes in the Eaton fire almost a year ago today. Both said unresolved is how to prevent such a disaster from happening again. They and dozens of others had repeatedly expressed public outrage that Bonta had not investigated the fire departments, the county sheriff’s department and other agencies regarding responses or lack thereof to the destructive blaze.

The two held the sign on the “Rising Together” float, commissioned by the California Community Foundation and the Black Freedom Fund, honoring those lost in both the Eaton and Palisades fires with 31 sunflowers representing those killed.

The Tournament of Roses did not answer inquiries about how they would handle the incident moving forward. Instead, they released a statement Friday afternoon saying: “The Rising Together float was included in the Rose Parade as a tribute to wildfire survivors and to those whose lives were forever changed. The signage referenced was not part of the official float entry.”

Clayton-Johnson said she has not been contacted by the Tournament or anyone else. Pasadena Police Department is not involved.

“We weren’t commandeering someone’s else’s float. We just held a little sign,” said Clayton-Johnson on Friday, who said she made the sign. “We wanted to display it to the media and that’s what we did.”

While protests after the parade are not uncommon, someone holding an unauthorized protest sign onboard a float during the parade is very unusual, especially for a parade known for its pomp, flowers, positive attitude and clocklike precision for 137 years.

“We felt very supported from everyone at the parade,” said Clayton-Johnson. “There are many, many fire survivors who are still looking for answers.”

Pasadena Police reported only the following minor incidents on Jan. 1: a man arrested for assault with a deadly weapon at 12:30 a.m. who struck a victim with a metal chair after an argument; a man arrested for public intoxication, and a man arrested for robbery who allegedly took a hat from a female band member’s head and fled. He was caught by security and taken into custody, Derderian reported.

Also, Derderian reported that “several protest groups were along the parade during the parade and were proactively contacted by the LASD (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) response teams. None of the groups impacted the parade movement.”

Commerce was up

During the holiday week, business in Pasadena was up, way up, said Derderian.

“Due to the influx of visitors in our town, hotels were full, businesses and restaurants were booming,” she said. “This is a big boost; something we really needed this year.”

The year began with fires in northeast Pasadena and Altadena. In June, immigration raids from unmarked men who said later on they were with the Department of Homeland Security or the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) squads descended on Pasadena, and then on Los Angeles and surrounding suburbs, arresting those they claimed were undocumented and criminals.

After the fires, few felt like enjoying themselves at restaurants. “No one felt like doing anything; there wasn’t much enthusiasm,” said Paul Little, president and CEO of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.

Little said all ethnic restaurants took a big hit from the ICE raids. Some employees were arrested, others stayed home. “The hospitality industry runs on immigrant labor, not necessarily undocumented,” Little explained. Restaurants lost business. Shopping on Colorado Boulevard and Old Pasadena in general was down.

He said consumerism was re-born from Thanksgiving through Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s, including this weekend when many out-of-town guests remained because hotels had three-day minimum stays. Pasadena has about 2,500 hotel rooms, he said.

“The run-up to Thanksgiving, through Christmas, people were enthusiastic about shopping and doing holiday things,” he said, meaning more sales at stores and more diners at Pasadena’s well-known restaurants in South Lake, Old Pasadena and the Playhouse District.

Pasadena did not report anything official about cleanup. But Little, who once served on the City Council, said the city has a well thought-out post-parade plan that they’ve been perfecting for more than 100 years.

Minutes after the parade ended, crews were picking up wet ponchos and emptying trash bins. A road crew went about the streets picking up the orange-and-white barricades that re-routed street traffic for the parade.

“Kudos to the city of Pasadena for how efficiently they take care of things before, during and after the parade,” Little said.

Trains packed

LA Metro had advertised using the six light-rail train stations of its A Line in Pasadena for getting to the Rose Parade and connecting with shuttles for the Rose Bowl Game.

Lake, Memorial Park, and the Del Mar stations had standing-room only inside trains, especially after the parade and before and after the football game.

“It is the second time we went to the parade. This is the first time being in the grandstands,” said Randy Lafferty, 66, traveling from Pomona with his wife to the Rose Parade on Thursday on the A Line train in Pasadena. The line was extended from Azusa to Pomona in the fall of 2025. 

“City (of Pasadena) staff worked closely with Metro to ensure a smooth experience for visitors, including installing wayfinding signage from the parade route and the Rose Bowl Game shuttle area to nearby stations.

“Additionally, the City coordinated essential street closures to create safe spaces for large crowds as they entered station platforms. We value our strong partnership with Metro, which continues to offer residents and visitors sustainable transportation options and supports our vision of a city where people can circulate without cars,” Derderian said.

LA Metro gave out free long-stem roses at the stations to riders, said Patrick Chandler, LA Metro spokesperson.

Ridership numbers were not immediately available from Metro. A report on holiday train travel may be out in a few weeks.

“Metro Rail experienced broad growth in weekend ridership in 2025, driven by major regional events, seasonal activities and improved system connectivity across Los Angeles County,” said Chandler. “High-profile destinations such as the Rose Bowl and the Tournament of Roses Parade, along with concerts, sporting events and community festivals, continued to demonstrate Metro’s role as a reliable transportation option for traveling to large-scale events.”

City Editor Ryan Carter contributed to this report.