One of the most sacred traditions of New Year’s Day in the United States takes place in Pasadena, California with the Rose Parade. The earliest Tournament of Roses welcomed just 3,000 spectators to its first-ever parade in 1890 with horse-drawn carriages covered in flowers.
Now, more than 125 years later, it is a marvel of modern technology, hidden beneath flowers and other natural materials. Millions of people around the world tune-in to see it travel 5.5 miles down Colorado Boulevard!
The Rose Parade features four different types of entries: floral-decorated floats, non-profit organization or municipality, equestrian units, bands, and Tournament Entries. Although the floats are the centerpiece, it’s the marching bands that often steal the show.
That was the case on Monday as the Toho Marching Band showed incredible technique while making the most difficult turn on the route. They went all-out!
The right turn on the corner of Orange Grove and Colorado is known to be especially tight and often causes trouble for large floats and bands alike.
It was light work for the Toho Marching Band!
Featuring 176 musicians, mostly females, the Japanese-based band is made up of students from Toho High School and Aichi Toho University. They are located adjacent to one another in Nagoya, Japan.
As the band reached the infamous corner, it pulled a remarkable stunt while playing ‘We Will Rock You’ by Queen! The California crowd went wild.
After constricting at first, the band spun in unison and flipped its entire formation.
Here is a another look from the outside corner: