Each year thousands of marching participants experience the adventure of a lifetime in the Tournament of Roses. This year’s theme, “Find Your Adventure,” celebrates that spirit as well the centennial of the nation’s national parks in a unique partnership between tournament organizers and the U.S. National Park Service.
Show Band: The Albany (Georgia) State University Marching Rams appeared in its first Rose Parade.
Bigger and Better: The Allen (Texas) Eagle Escadrille boasts almost 800 members, significantly more participants since its last Rose Parade appearance 10 years ago.
Big Honor: The Los Angeles Unified School District All District High School Honor Band always plays a big role in the annual festivities.
Reason to Celebrate: The Punahou School from Honolulu kicks off its 175th anniversary.
Back Again: The Aguilas Doradas Band, from Puebla, Mexico, previously appeared in the Tournament of Roses in 2009.
In Sunny California: The Franklin Regional Panther Band from Murrysville, Pennsylvania, performed “Walking on Sunshine.”
On the theme banner, acrobats dressed like marching band members balanced in mid-air on sway poles.
The Rose Bowl game featured a classic Big Ten versus Pac-12 matchup. The University of Iowa Hawkeye Marching Band performed several songs by Queen as well as “Johnny B. Goode” while the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band continued to spark controversy with its farmer-related show and costumed cow. The Stanford football team ran away with the game with a final score of 45 to 16.
Participating Bands
More than 50 marching bands competed for approximately 12 spots in the Rose Parade. Combined with two university groups and several guaranteed local honor bands, the following 19 units participated in this year’s festivities.
Albany (Georgia) State University
Allen (Texas) High School
Centro Escolar José Maria Morelos y Pavón Aguilas Doradas Band from Puebla, Mexico
Franklin Regional High School from Murrysville, Pennsylvania
Los Angeles Unified School District All District High School Honor Band
Mira Mesa High School from San Diego
Pasadena (California) City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band and Herald Trumpets
Plymouth-Canton Educational Park from Canton, Michigan
Punahou School from Honolulu
Saratoga (California) High School
Stanford (California) University
The Salvation Army Tournament of Roses Band from Los Angeles
Toho High School from Nagoya, Japan
United States Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band from San Diego
University of Iowa from Iowa City, Iowa
Virginia Military Institute from Lexington, Virginia
William Mason (Ohio) High School
Wyoming All-State Marching Band from Cheyenne, Wyoming
Due to a visa problem, the Instituto Pedro Molina Latin Band from Coatepeque, Guatemala, did not perform.
