Photos: Bundled up as the 2024 Rose Parade kicks off - Los Angeles Times
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Photos: Bundled up as the 2024 Rose Parade kicks off

Band members with feathered headdresses are wrapped in Mylar blankets.
Members of Banda Municipal de Zarcero of Costa Rica try to stay warm in Mylar blankets before the Rose Parade.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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The 135th Rose Parade kicked off Monday as the world ushers in the start of 2024.

With its petal-packed floats, marching bands and high-stepping horses, the parade travels 5½ miles along the streets of Pasadena.

The theme this year is “Celebrating a World of Music: The Universal Language,” a message of hope and harmony in a time of war, labor strikes, and partisan political strife as a contentious American election year begins.

“In a world of different cultures, beliefs, hopes, and dreams, one language unites us all — music,” Alex Aghajanian, president of the Tournament of Roses, said in a statement. “The sound, texture, rhythm, form, harmony, and expression meld together to move, soothe, excite and delight the world.”

The LAUSD All-City Honor Band
(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
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The LAUSD All-City Honor Band

The City of Alhambra's Year of the Dragon-themed float at the Rose Parade.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The City of Alhambra float won the Fantasy Award for most outstanding display of fantasy and imagination.

Marine Corps musicians in the Rose Parade.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

U.S. Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego and Camp Pendleton.

Rose Parade Grand Marshall and Singer Audra McDonald smiles for the crowd
(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)

Rose Parade Grand Marshall and Singer Audra McDonald, left, smiles for the crowd.

A Michigan Twirler puts on lipstick in the predawn darkness before the Rose Parade.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Zoe Dotts-Brown, a senior Michigan Twirler, puts on lipstick to prepare for the 135th annual Rose Parade.

A surprised Alabama Crimsonette in a swirl of Mylar.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

The University of Alabama Crimsonettes receive Mylar blankets to stay warm before the parade.

North Carolina A&T University dancers perform
(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)
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North Carolina A&T University dancers perform.

The San Diego Zoo/San Diego Zoo Safari Park float in the 135th annual New Year's Rose Parade.
(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

The San Diego Zoo’s “It All Started with a Roar” float, which won the Sweepstakes award.

Two women and a child wait for the start of the 135th Rose Parade
(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

Jackie Ventura and Monserrat Zavala hold Emilo Grimaldo as they wait for the parade on Colorado Boulevard.

Sea creatures in the Cal Poly Rose Parade float.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Cal Poly Universities’ “Shock N’ Roll: Powering the Musical Current” float.

The Rose Queen and Rose Court.
(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
Rose Queen Naomi Stillitano and members of her court wave in the Rose Parade.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Rose Queen Naomi Stillitano, a senior at Arcadia High School, and members of the 2024 Royal Court wave from their float.

Pageant winners wave to the crowd during the Rose Parade on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024 in Pasadena, CA.
(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)
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