The Rose Parade will return Saturday. For many, the return will be seen as a cheerful respite from two painful pandemic years. But the parade — and its enormous crowd from across the country — are coming at a fraught time. Coronavirus infections and hospitalizations are soaring again because of the highly contagious Omicron variant. Disruptions abound.
Challenges aside, the return of the Rose Parade will be welcomed by those who cherish it.
Floats are being decorated, marching bands are tuning up and thousands are bundling up to see the spectacle. But the pandemic lurks in the background.
Dec. 29, 2021
James Haubner, with help from his mother, Krista, attaches pink carnations to the bottom of a beaker that is part of The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor UCLA float. Last minute decorations are going on ahead of the 2022 Rose Parade in Pasadena.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
Ellerose Chan, 14, glues mung beans onto a turtle for a Rose Parade float on Dec. 27.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
The return of the parade has not come without logistical challenges. Volunteers have dropped out because of the Omicron surge, and float builders have had difficulty getting materials because of high costs and supply chain issues.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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“I figured they’d be shorthanded because of the pandemic, so I thought I would pitch in,” said Mary Ann Cosgrove, as she works on the “Masked Singer” float.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Alison Darrow works on the California Physical Therapy Assn. float.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Teresa Rosales prepares a red carnation. The costs of materials including roses, seeds and steel have exploded in recent months, according to Janet Benjamin, decoration chairperson for the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses float.
Irfan Khan was a staff photographer with the Los Angeles Times from 1996 to 2024. He previously served as a freelance photographer for the publication beginning in 1989. Khan started his career as a commercial photographer in 1973 in Pakistan and moved to Dubai in 1977, where he worked for an advertising agency and at a leading English newspaper. Khan’s assignments have taken across Southern California and the U.S. Internationally, he has photographed the Hajj in Saudi Arabia and war zones of the Pakistan/Afghanistan border in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He was part of the team awarded the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news for coverage of the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to semi-classical music of the Indian subcontinent and playing cricket on Sundays.
Francine Orr was a staff photojournalist for the Los Angeles Times from 2000-24. She is currently a Knight fellow at the Graduate School of Visual Communication at Ohio University. Previously, she was a staff photographer at the Kansas City Star. Orr served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. While there, she learned how to be a quiet observer and gained a love for stories. She was raised in Colorado and earned bachelor’s degrees in both history and art from the University of Saint Mary. In 2022, Orr received the coveted Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma and the National Headliner Award. She also won the 2020 Meyer “Mike” Berger and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature photography in 2012.
Jonah Valdez is a former reporter at the Los Angeles Times on the Fast Break entertainment news team. Before joining The Times as a member of the 2021-22 Los Angeles Times Fellowship class, he worked for the Southern California News Group, where he wrote award-winning features. His work can also be found at his hometown newspaper, the San Diego Union-Tribune, Voice of San Diego and San Diego Reader.
Hailey Branson-Potts is an enterprise reporter on the State Team who joined the Los Angeles Times in 2011. She reports on a wide range of issues and people, with a special focus on Northern California and the Central Coast. She grew up in the small town of Perry, Okla., and graduated from the University of Oklahoma.
