The 2013 Doo Dah Parade

Everyone (well, most people in the United States and anyone who reads this blog) knows that Pasadena is famous for the Rose Parade. This parade is so iconic and we are fortunate to now live near the end of the parade and earlier this year we watched it live. However, what you may not know is that Pasadena is also famous for the Doo Dah Parade. This sometimes annual parade (or occasional parade) is everything that is almost the opposite of the Rose Parade.

We are no strangers to parades. In fact, Ellie has learned to love parades. She LOVES them. Between the Bunker Hill Day Parades, parades at Disneyland, the summer solstice parade in Santa Barbara, local 4th of July parades, and as previously discussed, the Rose Parade. The Doo Dah parade was new to all of us and it was unlike anything we have ever seen or experienced.

You know its going to be a good parade when the first entry to the official parade is bag pipers playing "Zip-a-dee Doo Dah".

There was lots of music. Both bands on the backs of flatbed trucks, single musicians with amplifiers, and lots of singing and dancing. And of course, no parade is legit without a marching band!

There were lots of interesting vehicles. A car that looked like a toaster. A VW bug that was decked out like a baboon, complete with an opening mouth. The Blues Brothers car. And our favorite, cupcake vehicles. These were so cute and so much fun.

Of course, music and vehicles do make for a great parade. But there were also other interesting entries. I'm not quite sure how to explain them.

There was also the marching grill and hibachi team. They were grilling and passing out actual hot dogs.

All the entries made the parade entertaining, fun, and memorable. But apparently there is a tradition that we were not aware of when we first arrived. People throw tortillas at the parade. Yes, you read that right. Tortillas a flung at entries in the parade. The more you like something, the more you throw. The kids got into it by running into the street and grabbing previously thrown tortillas so that they had a chance to throw some. Ellie thought this was hilarious and had so much fun gathering the tortillas.

Anyway, we had a blast. Between laughing, wondering what was going on, throwing tortillas, singing and dancing. Definitely going to keep our eyes out for a parade next year (its not an annual event, sometimes, kinda). Well, we will definitely be headed to the next one.