Floats decorated with fresh flowers, marching bands and war heroes attracted millions of viewers on the scene and through live TV broadcasting on Monday to mark the 123rd Tournament of Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, as a tradition to celebrate the New Year.
Themed "Just Imagine ...," the traditional Jan. 1 event was held on Jan. 2 this year to adhere to the Tournament of Roses' tradition of "Never on Sunday" -- a policy instituted in 1893 to avoid interfering with religious services.
"Dancing With The Stars" winner and Iraq war veteran J. R. Martinez served as this year's Grand Marshall.
The 28-year-old suffered severe burns over more than 40 percent of his body in a land mine explosion in Iraq in 2003.
Martinez was chosen as grand marshal because Tournament of Roses officials felt he was the perfect fit for the event's theme of "Just Imagine."
"J. R. is not only a courageous and engaging role model for us all but has dedicated himself to helping not only servicemen and servicewomen, but all Americans facing challenges,'' said Rick Jackson, president of the Tournament of Roses.
The annual procession included 43 floats, 21 marching bands and 26 equestrian units from around the world, and this year marked the first time that the Occupy protesters had sent their first " Human Float" to protest the greedy Wall Street bankers and big corporations.
Occupy the Rose Parade organizer Peter Thottam told Xinhua that the Occupy protesters want to send a message to the world that the problems facing America should be addressed, and the 99 percent should have a fair share of wealth.
He said that protesters will form a Human Float, and it is called Number 44 Float, because President Barack Obama happened to be the 44th U.S. president, and it is also called the "99-percent Float."
But ironically, the "Human Float" by the Occupy protesters were not allowed to parade with other floats and marching bands. They were only permitted to parade at the end of the parade with floats supported by big corporations such as Honda, Wells Fargo bank and the U.S. Bank.
The striking contrast is that floats supported by big corporations usually cost about 200,000 to 500,000 dollars each decorated with tons of fresh flowers, while the Occupy float is made with plastic bags. The sharping contrast itself reveals the huge disparity of wealth held between the 99 percent as the Occupy protesters claimed to be, and the 1 percent representing the rich and powerful in the country.
About three or four thousand Occupy demonstrators joined the march.
The group, about three blocks long and escorted by police, started gathering on Orange Grove Boulevard shortly after 9 a.m. local time (17:00 GMT), with about 100 people holding a block-long replica of the Bill of Rights.
Near the rear of the group was an octopus made of Cellophane and plastic garbage bags, symbolizing the tentacles of corporate greed. It was flanked by a display of cardboard houses with " foreclosure" written on them.
Protesters chanted "We are the 99 percent" reverberated over the strains of marching bands in the official parade.
Many demonstrators carried signs that played on the parade's theme "Imagine," reminiscent of the John Lennon song. One said "Just Imagine No War.'' Another says: "Imagine No Greed."
Heavy police presence was evident along the 5.5-mile parade route.
Pasadena Police report that they made 10 arrests overnight along the Rose Parade Route where thousands of people stayed to wait for the parade, with nearly half being for public drunkenness. Six of the arrests were for misdemeanors. The remaining four were unspecified felony arrests. No major disturbances were reported during the two-hour parade.
Parade goers also had a chance to taste the Chinese culture with the float of a giant dragon raising its head to greet Americans in the new year.
According to the Pasadena Tournament of Roses website, the 2010 Parade was watched via TV in 127 countries and regions including China since Shanghai sent its first float to join the parade. The 2011 Parade had a total television reach of approximately 47 million viewers in the U.S. and was seen by approximately 28 million viewers internationally.