Rose Bowl Parade 2012 Gets 'Occupied,' Game Tonight
Thousands of spectators have gathered Monday to watch the 2012 Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., which saw an "Occupy" demonstration.
Kicking off on the corner of Green Street and Orange Grove Boulevard the 123rd Tournament of Roses Parade was themed “Just Imagine” and saw 44 floral floats, 16 marching bands, and 22 equestrian units in addition to a demonstration by the group Occupy the Rose Parade. The 70-foot wide octopus puppet named “Goldie Sachs” was constructed out of plastic bags by the protesters, drawing attention to their cause of income inequality.
The Occupy float was met with mixed reactions, and one member of the small group called the Bible Believers yelled to the Occupiers, “You people are no more than communists revolutionaries who destroy our country.”
Iraq war veteran and season 13’s “Dancing with the Stars” champion J.R. Martinez served as the event’s grand marshal.
This year’s parade was held on Jan 2. instead of the traditional New Year’s Day because the event is not held on Sundays.
In order to get a good view of the spectacle, onlookers spent the night camped on air mattresses and sleeping bags for ideal positions along with parade’s five-and-a-half mile course.
Of the 44 floats included in the parade, only one receives the award for best float. Before the Tournament of Roses Parade ended Monday, officials recognized the event’s top float as Dole’s “Preserving Paradise” addition. The float hosted an elephant, a tiger, and was covered in fruit. This is Dole’s second consecutive year winning the coveted prize.
This year, the Natural Balance Pet Foods Inc. float broke a world record for the heaviest float in history. The 11-foot, 7-inch-long structure featured six dogs and a tank of 6,600 gallons of water. It weighed in at 138,000 pounds.
For the first time in 58 years, the 2012 parade did not include the famed Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale horses after the company changed its marketing strategy and withdrew, CBS News reported.
The Oregon Ducks will take on the Wisconsin Badgers in Monday’s Rose Bowl 2012 competition, with kick off scheduled for 5:10 p.m. EST. The game will be televised by ESPN.
