Tournament of Roses

What is New Year's Day without the Tournament of Roses Parade? I never miss it. Though the other acts are interesting, the floats are everyone's favorites, not just for the fanciful designs, but for the sheer volume of flowers used to achieve those designs! I especially like this past winner for it's use of roses.


I once read that the parade floats utilize so many flowers, they are responsible for two-thirds of Holland's GDP!

The first Tournament of Roses was staged in 1890 in Pasadena, CA., by transplanted Easterners who were eager to showcase the mild weather of their adopted home. (In other words, they were bragging that they weren't knee-deep in snow!). In those first few years, it expanded to include such oddities as ostrich races and bronco busting.

Today's floats now feature high-tech computerized animation and use exotic materials from all over the world. A few floats are still made by volunteers working to benefit their organization, but most are now made by professional float building companies, and can take up to a year to reach completion.


It's not the only parade on New Year's Day, but it's surely the reason this one is called "The Granddaddy of Them All"!



At Bloomers, we can't build you a float, but we can definitely create something beautiful for your New Year!