banana car at Doo dah parade
Festivals around LA / Pasadena / Travel blog Los Angeles

See the crazy fun Doo Dah parade in Pasadena

by carollightwood

This is Part One.  More posts follow tomorrow.

The Grand Marshals Lori and Scott came near the end of the parade rather than the beginning.

Originally the Doo Dah parade was a send-up of Pasadena’s famed Rose Parade.  And it is still that and a lot more! This year the parade was dedicated to one of the parade’s founders, Scott Finnell, aka Snotty Scotty, who passed away this year.  (The world has lost so many in the last 12 months: Bowie, Prince, and more recently Leon Russell, Mose Allison…no.  I’ll stop there and get back to the fun and silly Doo Dah parade.)

When I tried to decide how to organize all the photos I realized that disorganized was the best way. The parade runs along one lane of Colorado Blvd. and then turns around and comes back in the other lane, which means photographers and spectators get at least two chaotic viewings of each entry. And some entrants circled around for more than a second time.

If you are interested in being part of a future Doo Dah parade go to this website.  It only costs $10 per person to enter!

So here goes:

waiting for doo dah parade
Waiting for the parade to begin. Unlike the Rose parade people don’t camp out overnight to get front row seats. You can show up 5 minutes before the parade starts and be right in front. Love the holiday accessories these ladies are wearing.
raindeer horns and hoops
Who these people were and what they were supposed to be doing was beyond me. Maybe Santa’s reindeer?  But there were a lot of things that didn’t make much sense aside from being fun!
mr girl scout cookies
Giving in to an urge to be a Girl Scout…even if he is a middle-aged man. I wonder who made his costume?
unicyclist jester
A unicycling jester! Great costume. And it was terrific to see a unicyclist — which I did not see at the CicLAvia bicyling events earlier this year in downtown L.A.
streaming doo dah live
This woman set up in the middle of the street. I think she was streaming the parade live and it may be on YouTube somewhere. Or maybe not.
mr stars and stripes
A spectator I think. I didn’t see him in the parade. That’s his daughter in the tutu and his father in the black suit and hat.
Not many political floats, but in addition to this one there was at least one Guy Faulks masked character. You know, the masked guy for Anonymous.
Not many political floats, but in addition to this one there was at least one Guy Fawkes masked character in a group celebrating Rock and Roll. 
farewell snotty scotty
A lone piper playing ‘Amazing Grace’ marched at the head of the parade route. More to come tomorrow…

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