Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home of many leading scientific and cultural institutions, including California Institute of Technology, Art Center College of Design, the Pasadena Playhouse and the Norton Simon Museum of Art. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 133,936, making it the 160th largest city in the United States. The California Finance Department estimated the Pasadena population to be 146,166 in 2005. Pasadena is the 6th largest city in Los Angeles County, and the main cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley.
Sports
The Rose Bowl, a National Historic Landmark, is host of the oldest and most famous college football postseason bowl game every New Year's Day. It is the home field for the University of California, Los Angeles football team and has hosted five Super Bowls. Important soccer matches include the 1984 Summer Olympics, the men's final in the FIFA World Cup 1994, and the final in FIFA Women's World Cup 1999.
For some time, Los Angeles has been seeking another National Football League team to replace the Rams and the Raiders, both of whom played in Los Angeles from 1946-1994 and 1982-1994 respectively. In November, 2006, a voter initiative to encourage a deal between the Rose Bowl and the NFL failed at the polls, effectively ruling out a return of the NFL to Pasadena.
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena is also home to the Tournament of Roses Parade, held each year on January 1 (unless that day is a Sunday, in which case the event is held on January 2). The first parade was held in 1890 and was originally sponsored by the Valley Hunt Club, a Pasadena social club. The impetus for holding the parade was, as stated by one of the members, Professor Charles F. Holder, "In New York, people are buried in snow. Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let's hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise."
By 1895, the festivities had become larger than the Valley Hunt Club could manage, and the Tournament of Roses Association was then formed to take charge of the festival. In 1902, it was decided that a football game would be added to the day's events. The game, now known as the Rose Bowl, would become the first post-season college football game ever. The first game was between Stanford University and the University of Michigan. After suffering a tremendous financial loss, the Tournament of Roses Association decided to hold Roman chariot races in lieu of football games. However, in 1916, football returned. When it became clear that the stands in Tournament Park were too small to facilitate the crowd, the Tournament's President, William Leishman, proposed that a stadium be built to house the game. The Rose Bowl, designed by noted southern California architect Myron Hunt, was completed in 1923. The Rose Bowl has since been selling out to crowds since 1947. In 1998, the Rose Bowl celebrated its 52nd anniversary and became the longest running tradition of its kind.
The Rose Parade, as it is familiarly known, still features elaborate floats. According to the organizers, "Every inch of every float must be covered with flowers or other natural materials, such as leaves, seeds or bark. Volunteer workers swarm over the floats in the days after Christmas, their hands and clothes covered with glue and petals. The most delicate flowers are placed in individual vials of water, which are set into the float one by one." Over the two plus hours that the parade occurs, floats and participants travel over five miles of terrain and pass by over one million viewers who generally camp out over New Year's Eve to have prime viewing spots along the parade route.
The Rose Parade is satirized by the popular Doo Dah Parade, an annual November event in Pasadena.
Pasadena, California News
Los Angeles, California News
Los Angeles, California News
Beverly Hills, California News
Chatsworth, California
Woodland Hills, California News
San Francisco, California News
