The Rose Parade Picks Its 2014 Bands

Eighteen bands from across the country got some really good news.

Each and every year we marvel at Tournament of Roses organization's famous can-do. Not only do the good people of Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena stage one of the best-known parades but they lock down the details on the following year's extravaganza nearly a year ahead of time.

Us? We still haven't stowed the wrapping paper rolls from the holidays.

The 2014 Rose Parade theme was announced a few weeks back; now those bands that have been selected to march in the Jan. 1, 2014, parade have been named. There are 18 in all, including local favorites from Pasadena City College and the Los Angeles Unified School District All District High School Honor Band.

Other brightly uniformed groups on the Rose Parade selection list? The Westfield High School Marching Bulldogs from Chantilly, Va., and the Hawaii All-State Marching Band.

There's a smart reason for announcing the bands 10 months ahead of the date; band members need to cover their travel and lodging costs. Hello, car washes and bake sales and more intensive fundraisers and excited community support.

The chosen outfits, in addition to marching in the broadcast-across-the-planet parade, also play at the two-day Bandfest at Pasadena City College. Bandfest typically happens a day or two before the Tournament itself.

Last interesting note to play on this? There will be 20 bands in all, not 18, but of course the final two bands could not yet be named. They'll represent the teams that play in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

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