Step Right up to the Rose Parade Floats During ‘Floatfest'

The big event's last hurrah is a ticketed to-do; find out how to attend now.

Tournament of Roses

What to Know

  • Floatfest: A Rose Parade Showcase
  • $20
  • Jan. 2 and 3 (timed windows; check time before purchasing ticket)

Some parts of a Rose Parade float are quite prominent, those eye-catching elements that are easily discernible from a good block or two away.

Take an oversized giraffe or any colossal critter that can stand as tall as a small building, or a huge and colorful castle, the sort of structure that grandly occupies the back of a moving parade vehicle.

But there are so many other delightful details that can only be discerned from just a few feet away.

The small swirls of seeds that give a Rose Parade float its distinctive texture or the pink petals that help create fanciful sea foam or lizard scales or a cloud are some of the smaller things to appreciate when you're next to one of these whimsical works of art.

Floatfest: A Rose Parade Showcase gives people the amazing opportunity to connect with the floats' creative components just hours or a day after the celebrated procession concludes.

It's a ticketed event — entry is $20 — and there are three periods of time available: The afternoon of Jan. 2, which is immediately after the parade, and two windows on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

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The area around Sierra Madre and Washington Boulevards, in the easterly part of Pasadena, serves as the longtime nexus for this stunner of a showcase.

Plenty of people love this awesome up-close-a-tude, with "nearly 70,000 visitors" arriving to commune with these petal-carpeted creations. You'll want to check out the Park & Ride information, and, of course, wear comfortable walking shoes.

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