Rose Parade 2027: Date, Times and Tickets

The parade at a glance: date, time and route

Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena

Friday 1 January 2027 Starts at 8:00 am Pacific Time 5.5 miles, about 2 hours Visible without a ticket, no guaranteed spot

The parade starts at Green Street and Orange Grove Boulevard, heads up Colorado Boulevard, then joins Sierra Madre Boulevard as far as Villa Street. It covers 5.5 miles, about 8.8 km, and lasts roughly two hours, according to the official parade-day guide (checked 18 October 2026).

The date is not in doubt. 1 January 2027 falls on a Friday, so the « Never on Sunday » rule, which moves the parade to 2 January when 1 January is a Sunday, does not apply. The parade goes ahead on the day, at the announced time.

What to remember

• One time to remember: 8:00 am in Pasadena, which is 4:00 pm in London, with an eight-hour gap in winter.
• One possible date: Friday 1 January 2027, with no postponement planned.
• A route closed to traffic from 10:00 pm the night before.
• A parade that goes ahead in the rain too: the 2026 edition ran through showers.

Pixidia tip: plan your arrival around 31 December, not 1 January. That is the night the streets close, the camping starts and the spots get taken. In the Orange Grove zone, you need to be in place from 6:30 am on the morning of the parade.

Want to make the most of the day? The official window runs from 8:00 am to 10:00 am, but the streets stay closed until 2:00 pm, so leaving Pasadena afterwards is still possible. The tour below is not linked to the parade. It runs through Hollywood, Mulholland Drive and Beverly Hills on an open-top bus. According to the Viator listing checked on 18 October 2026, the tour lasts two hours, and several slots were open on 1 January 2027 between 9:00 am and 5:30 pm. The meeting point has not been verified, and the listing also mentions a version departing from Santa Monica: check the departure point on the listing before you book.

Hollywood, Beverly Hills & Celebrity Homes Tour by Open Air Bus €28.96 per person for 2 adults aged 38 and 40, open slots on 1 January 2027 (checked 18 October 2026) · ★ 4.6 on Viator (543 reviews)

See the 1 January departures

Schedule: the day hour by hour

The day starts the night before. The table below takes the official times from the Tournament of Roses and converts them to London time, which saves you from most alarm-clock mix-ups.

Source: official parade-day guide, Tournament of Roses, checked 18 October 2026; end of the official window according to the 2027 event page, checked the same day.

Three points need attention. First, the closures start at 10:00 pm, so if you are staying in Pasadena, get back to your hotel before then or plan to stay in for the night. Next, the organiser recommends being in place at least two hours before the start, wherever you are sitting. Last, the streets don’t reopen until 2:00 pm, so driving the route in the morning is out of the question.

Pavement or grandstand: how to choose your spot

There are two options. The pavement edge can be reached without a ticket, but with no guaranteed spot. The grandstand gives you a seat, costs money, is sold by Sharp Seating Company, and comes with a bag check at the entrance. The right choice depends on how much waiting you can handle and what your budget is.

The pavement: free, but get there early

Pavement camping is allowed from noon on 31 December. At 11:00 pm, occupants may move up to the « blue honor line », but not beyond it. The official guide doesn’t say explicitly whether the pavement edge is free. Some summaries claim it is, without official backing, so treat free access as an observed practice rather than a written guarantee.

The grandstand: arrive early, pay for a seat

Grandstands in the Orange Grove zone require you to be seated by 6:30 am. Seats west of Fair Oaks Avenue, near the start, require you to be present at 7:00 am, and the other seats in the zone at 8:00 am. The official guide gives no exhaustive list: any spectator can be searched, and items that block the view, bother other people or pose a risk are banned. No clear-bag rule has been confirmed for 2027.

The official ticket seller is Sharp Seating Company, 1737 East Colorado Boulevard (enter from the back), phone (626) 795-4171. The office is open Monday to Thursday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, according to the provider’s page checked on 18 October 2026. 2027 prices were not published at that date, and no opening date for the 2027 sale has been announced either.

Only buy through official channels: Sharp Seating for the grandstand, and the Rose Bowl announcement for the match. Resale platforms (Gametime, SeatGeek, Hello Tickets) are not official, and warnings were issued about fake-ticket scams at San Antonio’s Battle of Flowers parade in 2025 (KSAT).

Source: Rose Bowl Game announcement and Sharp Seating ticketing, checked 18 October 2026; 2026 range from secondary guides.

Accessible seating: free, reserved zones

The official guide describes three free ground-level zones for people with disabilities, with up to four companions per zone. One offers audio description, another sign language interpreters. You need to bring your own chair and go through the online form the organiser gives.

Rose Bowl 2027: a quarterfinal on the same day

On the same Friday, the 113th Rose Bowl Game, presented by Prudential, is played at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena. In 2027 it hosts a College Football Playoff quarterfinal. That changes the plan for a day in Pasadena: this is not a routine end-of-season college game, it is part of the national American football calendar. The Rose Bowl announced a public sale on 1 September 2026, with tickets from $202.90 including fees and a maximum of four tickets per person.

One key point: the match-up is not known yet. Selection of the games is scheduled for 6 December 2026, according to the calendar cited by FBSchedules, and should be cross-checked with the College Football Playoff site. The kick-off time depends on that choice and is not set at this date. Buying a ticket now means buying before you know who is playing, and accepting a time slot that is fixed later.

The College Football Playoff calendar, as published by a specialist site checked on 18 October 2026, puts the other quarterfinals on Wednesday 30 December 2026 (Fiesta Bowl) and Friday 1 January 2027 (Cotton Bowl and Peach Bowl). The semifinals are set for 14 and 15 January 2027, and the final for 25 January 2027 in Las Vegas. Cross-check these dates on the official CFP site before you book a return flight.

For someone who comes mainly for the parade, the practical issue is simple: both events fall on the same day. Don’t plan both for the same time slot without checking the kick-off time, which will be published after the selection.

Getting there: Metro, car and parking

Your choice of transport depends mostly on the closures. The parade route is blocked all night, and the roads into Pasadena get complicated from the evening before.

The Los Angeles Metro: the simplest option

According to the official guide, the Silver and Orange lines of the Metro run around the clock overnight, from 31 December into the morning of the parade. The Gold Line is boosted on the day, and buses serve the parade and Rose Bowl areas. The number 323-GoMetro (323-466-3876) and metro.net give up-to-date times. The fare for 1 January 2027 has not been found, so check it on metro.net. Reserved parking prices are not published. Check your arrival stations on metro.net before you leave, as connections sometimes change from one year to the next.

The Metrolink train: don’t count on it

Sources disagree for 2027. A Tournament page mentions extra Metrolink service, while a Visit Pasadena source announces no early-morning trains. Without official confirmation, don’t build your journey around a Metrolink train. The Metro remains the documented option.

By car: avoid the morning

To reach Pasadena, the 210 freeway leads to the Allen, Hill, Lake or Fair Oaks and Marengo exits, depending on your direction. Reserved parking goes through Sharp Seating and other operators listed by the organiser, in limited numbers. Public car parks near the route work on a first-come, first-served basis and charge a fee. Street parking is allowed from noon on 31 December, for the evening only. Red zones and « No Parking » areas mean towing and fines.

Campervans can spend the night at Brookside Park before 1 January, self-contained, without a hook-up and without booking, first come, first served. The organiser’s contact number is (626) 577-3100.

By air: Los Angeles or Burbank

LAX is the best-known airport in the region. Hollywood Burbank is closer to Pasadena. Journey times vary a lot by time of day and were not measured for this article. Allow a generous margin for a shuttle, a ride-hailing app or a taxi, so you reach Pasadena before the 10:00 pm closure.

The trip from Europe: an eight-hour gap

In winter, Pasadena is eight hours behind London. The parade’s 8:00 am start is therefore 4:00 pm in London, and an overnight flight from Europe often lands on the same day. A departure from London on 30 December, arriving in Los Angeles the same day, leaves time to reach Pasadena on the 31st. That is a possible scenario, not a verified schedule. Flight times and 2027 fares were not checked at this date, so compare flights before you book.

Where to stay: book early, or stay elsewhere

Hotels in Pasadena and the surrounding area fill up around six months ahead, according to the AAA guide (undated). For 1 January 2027, that window has mostly passed, so check availability now. Other areas to look at include Downtown Los Angeles, well served by the Metro, Burbank, Glendale, Arcadia and South Pasadena. This page does not show any affiliated accommodation offers.

Weather: cool in the morning, mild by midday

The parade morning is cool. The AAA gives 40 to 50°F (4 to 10°C) at dawn, and about 70°F (21°C) at midday. The city of Pasadena’s official January data does not match between the text and the table on the same page, so we use a range rather than a single figure.

Source: AAA Rose Parade guide, Carnegie observatory normals and City of Pasadena climate page, checked 18 October 2026. The reference period for the normals is not specified.

Rain is not just a theory. The 2026 parade was wet, and the organiser holds the event whatever the conditions. Pack a light waterproof jacket and layers you can add or take off. An umbrella can block the view of the people sitting behind you.

2027 news and the announcement calendar

The 2027 edition’s theme is « Welcome ». It was announced on 15 January 2026, and Terry Madigan presides over the Tournament of Roses for this 138th edition.

The number of marching bands has two counts. The Tournament and the South Pasadenan announced 21 bands in early March 2026, while another source talks of 18 bands plus 2. That is why we say « around twenty bands », with 21 as the dated announcement.

The organiser has already published several announcements this autumn, and they set the pace of preparation. Travel guides rarely repeat them.

Source: Tournament of Roses news, Rose Bowl Game announcement and South Pasadenan, checked 18 October 2026.

The 2027 grand marshal had not been announced at the date of checking, so this article does not name them. Floats, sponsors and the Rose Court are announced in stages, though. Follow the organiser’s news page for the next ones.

Entry formalities: ESTA and passport

French citizens travelling to the United States without a visa for a tourist stay of under 90 days must obtain an ESTA authorisation before departure. The French foreign ministry’s travel advice for the United States, on diplomatie.gouv.fr, checked 18 October 2026, sets out this rule. The form is on the official site of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the administration in charge of entry: it is at esta.cbp.dhs.gov (check the address when you apply), and the information page is on cbp.gov. It is one of the points most often forgotten before a trip to Pasadena.

The fee is not given here. Secondary sources mention a figure of about $40, with a rise announced for October 2026, but no official text has been checked to confirm it. Check the amount in force on the official site when you apply, and be wary of intermediaries who add service fees on top.

Entry rules are changing. A federal proposal would ask ESTA applicants for their social media history; its final status was not confirmed at the date of checking. Read the form again on the day you fill it in. The passport validity rule has not been cross-checked here, so verify it on diplomatie.gouv.fr before you book your flight. If you hold a passport from another country, check the rules on the CBP site, as they depend on your nationality.

Around the parade: Floatfest, Equestfest and Bandfest

The parade is not the only New Year’s event in Pasadena. Floatfest, « A Rose Parade Showcase », lets you see the floats up close from 1 January 2027 at 1:30 pm until 3 January 2027 at 4:00 pm. That is the official window, longer than many summaries suggest, which mention only one or two days.

Ahead of the parade, the Tournament runs visitor events in 2026: float decorating (Decorating Places) from 28 to 30 December 2026, Equestfest on 29 December from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, and Bandfest on 29 and 30 December from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The 2027 dates for these events are not published yet, so treat the 2026 dates as a guide, not a programme.

To plan your time off around 1 January, our guide Christmas 2026: 10 days off for only 3 leave days sets out which days to take. If the parade appeals to you, New York’s Thanksgiving parade has its own crowds, with Macy’s parade and Black Friday in November 2026. And for another outdoor New Year’s Eve, the lights and fireworks in Funchal, Madeira make a useful comparison.

What other guides don’t tell you

Travel guides often repeat the same information. Here are five points checked against official sources that change a real travel decision.

• The Rose Bowl is on the same day, and it is a College Football Playoff quarterfinal. Many guides mention the match without giving its format or year. According to the Rose Bowl Game announcement (checked 18 October 2026), the stakes are those of a quarterfinal.
• Floatfest runs from 1 to 3 January 2027, not just two days. Summaries often talk about 1 and 2 January. The official parade-day guide (checked 18 October 2026) sets the window from 1 January at 1:30 pm to 3 January at 4:00 pm.
• The streets close at 10:00 pm the night before and reopen at 2:00 pm. Many texts give an approximate closing time and say nothing about the reopening. The official guide (checked 18 October 2026) gives both limits, from 31 December 2026 at 10:00 pm to 1 January 2027 at 2:00 pm.
• Three free accessible zones are reserved, and each is open to four companions. One offers audio description, another sign language interpreters, and you need to bring your own chair. The official guide (checked 18 October 2026) sets out these conditions, which few guides mention.
• 1 January 2027 is a Friday, so the Sunday rule does not apply. Guides quote the rule without dating it. The 2027 event page (checked 18 October 2026) lists the parade as « Friday, January 1, 2027 at 8AM ».