Why is the Rose Parade on January 2nd this year?

What’s going on with the Rose Parade this year? Shouldn’t it be on the 1^st of January? But it’s on Monday, January 2^nd. What’s up with that?

Answer: Because January 1^st happens to fall on Sunday this year. And way back in 1893 January 1^st also fell on a Sunday. That’s when the “Never on Sunday” tradition began. 

More About The Rose Parade

Beyond the Rose Parade, A Guide to the Yearlong Tournament of Roses Experience

Pasadena at 125: Early History of the Crown City

Roses, Oranges, and the Amazing Summerland

You see back then you could find a lot of horses hitched in front on churches along Colorado Boulevard. They were the common form of transportation for parishioners. So if a parade was going by with a lot of show horses, the hitched ponies would get frightened and agitated. Then the churchgoers would have to leave the services to attend to their horses. Like a car alarm going off.

Of course horses as daily transportation are no longer, but the Never on Sunday tradition has continued.

And so this year the Rose Parade will take place in all its equine glory on Monday, January 2^nd. 

Don’t you feel smart now?