It hasn’t rained on the Rose Parade in 20 years, but that was no problem at all for the fans who lined the route on Thursday morning to see an array of floats and marching bands make their way through the elements.
The show, as they say, must go on. And Rose fans were soaking it up.
“Rose Parade lover” Carla Hall has been to more than 65 of the events, and a wet 137th Rose Parade did not at all deter her. In fact, she was overprepared.
Hall, 77, drove into town from Norco four days ago to reserve the vantage point she’s watched the procession from for more than six decades. She camped in her car and has already braved the rain before the float show.
It’s the first rain on the parade since 2006, as light rain overnight into Thursday morning picked up and continued through the morning, only to taper off during the parade. The floral procession has traditionally managed to avoid precipitation, with rain dampening the event less than a dozen times in its previous 136 years.
Even as fans–covered in rain ponchos and trash bags–were not deterred, the rain still made its mark.
It grounded the annual B-2 flyover at the beginning of the parade.
Wet camera lenses impacted TV broadcasts.
Band members wrapped their saxophones and flutes in plastic.
The colors ran in patches on on some floats.
Underneath the 210 freeway overpass, at the very end of the parade, became a coveted spot to watch from this year as people seek any protection from the rain.
That side of the route is also where supporters of the Los Angeles All City marching band typically congregate, and the band’s color guard coach Martin Aguilar said that he was worried about players’ instruments getting damaged in the rain.
Another coach, Gabriela Atilano, said she fears the band will have waited for this moment to play in the parade for nothing.
“If there’s thunder, that’s it,” Atilano, said. “There’s no way they’d be able to play.
Flutists in Japan’s Golden Bears marching band, meanwhile, wrapped their instruments in plastic to protect them from the water as they walked through the route. The Bands of America Honor Band completely covered their saxophones, similarly, but the sounds were not stifled.
Fireworks shot into the damp air from a few floats, including Trader Joe’s and America250.
Folks still had positive attitudes toward the day.
Magic Johnson, the 137th parade’s Grand Marshal, said during a TV interview ahead of the parade start that he was thrilled for the event he’d grown up watching–rain or shine.
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Trumpeters in the Bands of America Honor Band covered their saxophones in plastic as they played in the 137th Rose Parade to protect them from the first rain at the Rose Parade in 20 years on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Photo by Christina Merino, staff writer)
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Trumpeters in the Bands of America Honor Band covered their saxophones in plastic as they played in the 137th Rose Parade to protect them from the first rain at the Rose Parade in 20 years on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Photo by Christina Merino, staff writer)
And things seemed to be turning around for the B-2 flyover, with the typical Rose Bowl kickoff flyover being tentaively switched to the game’s halftime–if the rain clouds clear up in time.
Hall, meanwhile, on New Year’s Eve, camped out on the center divider in front of the Volkswagen dealership on Vista Place and Sierra Madre Boulevard, relying on heavy duty plastic sheeting to keep her dry. She ducked back in her car for drier breaks.
A downpour on the 2026 installment, she said, is no big deal. Hall got soaked overnight, she added, but changed into dry clothes and was staying cozy under blankets until the parade was to commence.
Hall can shrug off the miserable conditions. She and her son didn’t let the COVID-19 pandemic stop them from showing up at the same Pasadena corner on Dec. 31, 2020, when the 2021 Rose Parade that year was canceled for only the fourth time since it began in 1891.
After witnessing more than 65 Rose Parades in the city where she grew up, Hall said she’s just happy to be in Pasadena on another New Year’s Day.
“This makes me extremely happy,” she said. “It’s been part of my life since third grade and I enjoy seeing not just the parade but the reactions from those sitting near me. It’s part of who I am. I’m a Rose Parade lover.”
Around the route, poncho-clad spectators turned out in the damp, dark, early morning hours before parade time, ducking into King Taco and other shops, huddling under store awnings as some trekked the still-empty Colorado Boulevard to find their spot.
Members of the Rose Court draped their dresses in rain ponchos, and the Pasadena City College Herald Trumpets blew music through the sprinkle.
The storm makes for “a very soggy Rose Parade, and potentially dangerous” one due to the risk of lightning and a large amount of people outside during the most impactful part of the storm,” according to the NWS.
Outside, though, the streets are much more sparse than in previous years even in the hours ahead of the parade.
Colorado Boulevard aroung 7:30 a.m. was riddled with more rain than spectators, with some people leaving their lawn chairs out on the street to reserve their spot while they seek shelter near storefronts.
Seeking shelter under the awning of a movie theater, parade-goer Cindy Taylor said “nothing stops us,” who was attending with her partner, Marcus Taylor.
The former Taylor had been going to the Rose Parade for 15 years before she lived in Riverside. And the latter said that he was looking forward to hearing how the bands will play in the rain.
And now they might have a quite a tale to relay about watching the floats and marchers this time around.
“I’m not super into being in the rain, but it’s interesting,” Marcus Taylor said. “I mean, it’s the Rose Parade–It’s a crazy story to tell, if you got to experience it while it rains super crazy.”
The rain was expected to taper off by Thursday night, giving the region a break through much of Friday, with more precipitation anticipated by late Friday night into Saturday.