As summer comes to an end in the United States and autumn weather starts to set in, AHF advocates can look forward to the 136th annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade in the new year. The annual parade has featured an AHF float nearly every year for over 10 years, always bringing attention to political and social issues surrounding HIV/AIDS and, more recently, the housing and homeless crisis affecting the nation.
The Pasadena Tournament of Roses started in 1890 in California after a prominent local social club sponsored the first parade, which featured bright, beautiful blooms even in the dead of winter, decorating carriages with hundreds of flowers. The event takes place on the first day of the new year, January 1, to bring life and joy to all of America and start the welcoming of spring.
AHF floats over the years have combined state-of-the art technology and natural materials to bring attention to critical causes and campaigns that our advocates fight for, for the betterment of the country. The past few years have included floats representing the Healthy Housing campaign with a “No place like home” Wizard of Oz float in 2023, the Vaccinate Our World campaign with a space-age, futuristic float in 2022, and a powerful float featuring an enormous, soaring dove honoring the victims of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub attack.
The floats Team AHF has presented have won multiple awards, including the Grand Marshal award for most outstanding creative concept and float design in 2023, the prestigious “Queen’s Award” for best use of roses in 2022, and the Lathrop K. Leishman prize for “most beautiful noncommercial float” in 2017.
The Rose Parade and AHF’s long-term commitment to showing off and showing up breathes life into our communities while standing up for what matters most. The next parade’s theme “Best Day Ever!” will float into our hearts in 2025, “…celebrat[ing] life’s best moments – those unexpected times that bring a smile, warm our hearts and fill us with joy. From a once-in-a-lifetime experience to the simplest pleasures, each is indelibly etched into our me mory,” announced Rose Parade President Ed Morales.
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