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Doo Dah Parade
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Doo Dah Parade
The Pasadena Doo Dah Parade is a popular farcical and flamboyant parade held in Pasadena, California, about once a year.
The event has been copied by the Columbus, Ohio, Ocean City, New Jersey, and Kalamazoo, Michigan Doo Dah Parades. Norfolk, Virginia has a Doo Dah Parade but its connection to the Pasadena parade is uncertain.
Conceived in 1978 by several friends, including Peter Apanel, Ted Wright, Charles "Skip" Finnell, Corky Peterson, and Richard Caputo, sitting in a bar called the Loch Ness Monster Pub in Pasadena, California, as an irreverent alternative to the traditional formality of the Rose Parade, which is also held in Pasadena. In 1978, January 1 fell on a Sunday, and the Rose Parade, which typically takes place on January 1, will not march on a Sunday. So, they decided it would be fun to have an alternative parade on January 1 that year. It was the first Doo Dah Parade. Peter Apanel became the Czar of Parade who organized and oversaw all the parades through Doo Dah. 19. Some of the earliest parade participants were Corky Peterson as first Grand Marshall, Queen Dorothy Romani, the official band of the parade, Snotty Scotty & The Hankies, The Red Shoes Dance Team, The Loch Ness Bagpipe Band, the Pasadena Food Co-op Organic Vegetables Marching Band, Mimi Margo-go & the Marquis de Sod, The Wilson Brothers, Zeke The Shiek, The Espresso Bar, The Unknown Shoppers, belly dancer Narayana (who has participated in every Parade), and General Hershy Bar, among many others. The Doo Dah logo and all of the early parade posters were designed by Spike Loveland, a bartender at the Loch Ness Monster Pub. By about the 5th parade, the throwing of tortillas into and from the crowds became a signature event during the parade.
The first telecast of the Parade was Doo Dah 11 in 1987 with King John Fischer, produced and directed by John Helmore, which played on Pasadena Community Access Corporation (PCAC) on Cable Channel 56. PCAC produced and cablecast the Parade through Doo Dah 14. The first live telecast of the Doo Dah Parade was Doo Dah 15 on Los Angeles television KDOC Channel 56, hosted by Richard Simmons and Judy Tenuta.
The Pasadena Doo Dah Parade features absurd and unique participants such as the BBQ & Hibachi Marching Grill Team, the Shopping Cart Drill Team, the Bastard Sons of Lee Marvin, the Men of Leisure Synchronized Nap Team, The Marching Lumberjacks, The Army of Toy Soldiers, Claude Rains & the 20-Man Memorial Invisible Man Marching Drill Team, Uncle Fester, Count Smokula, The Radioactive Chicken Heads and the Committee for the Right to Bear Arms, a group that marches in precise formations while carrying mannequin arms. Snotty Scotty and the Hankies is still the official band (even though Scotty died early). Many groups participate in the Doo Dah Parade as a fundraising effort for various charities. In 2010 the parade was moved to May 1, and also moved from Old Pasadena to East Pasadena. This Parade has spawned many others like it.
In August 2012, the Pasadena Museum of History opened an exhibit entitled, "What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been: 35 Years of the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade", containing donated items and photographs from the past 35 years of the parade and including a recreation of part of the original Chromo's bar. Over 400 people attended the opening reception, many in costume. In 2016, Route 66 Magazine ran a story on the Doo Dah parade.
In mid-July 2020, officials cited the COVID-19 pandemic as grounds for cancellation. Like the Rose Parade, which was postponed to 2022, the 43rd Doo Dah Parade was deferred to later that year, as 2021 was also called off. The parade was held again on November 19, 2023 in Old Pasadena.
In 2025, the Light Bringer Project (the non-profit organization behind the event) postponed Pasadena's Doo Dah Parade until 2026, due to the thousands of locals displaced by the Eaton wildfires and unsteady funding.
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Doo Dah Parade
The Pasadena Doo Dah Parade is a popular farcical and flamboyant parade held in Pasadena, California, about once a year.
The event has been copied by the Columbus, Ohio, Ocean City, New Jersey, and Kalamazoo, Michigan Doo Dah Parades. Norfolk, Virginia has a Doo Dah Parade but its connection to the Pasadena parade is uncertain.
Conceived in 1978 by several friends, including Peter Apanel, Ted Wright, Charles "Skip" Finnell, Corky Peterson, and Richard Caputo, sitting in a bar called the Loch Ness Monster Pub in Pasadena, California, as an irreverent alternative to the traditional formality of the Rose Parade, which is also held in Pasadena. In 1978, January 1 fell on a Sunday, and the Rose Parade, which typically takes place on January 1, will not march on a Sunday. So, they decided it would be fun to have an alternative parade on January 1 that year. It was the first Doo Dah Parade. Peter Apanel became the Czar of Parade who organized and oversaw all the parades through Doo Dah. 19. Some of the earliest parade participants were Corky Peterson as first Grand Marshall, Queen Dorothy Romani, the official band of the parade, Snotty Scotty & The Hankies, The Red Shoes Dance Team, The Loch Ness Bagpipe Band, the Pasadena Food Co-op Organic Vegetables Marching Band, Mimi Margo-go & the Marquis de Sod, The Wilson Brothers, Zeke The Shiek, The Espresso Bar, The Unknown Shoppers, belly dancer Narayana (who has participated in every Parade), and General Hershy Bar, among many others. The Doo Dah logo and all of the early parade posters were designed by Spike Loveland, a bartender at the Loch Ness Monster Pub. By about the 5th parade, the throwing of tortillas into and from the crowds became a signature event during the parade.
The first telecast of the Parade was Doo Dah 11 in 1987 with King John Fischer, produced and directed by John Helmore, which played on Pasadena Community Access Corporation (PCAC) on Cable Channel 56. PCAC produced and cablecast the Parade through Doo Dah 14. The first live telecast of the Doo Dah Parade was Doo Dah 15 on Los Angeles television KDOC Channel 56, hosted by Richard Simmons and Judy Tenuta.
The Pasadena Doo Dah Parade features absurd and unique participants such as the BBQ & Hibachi Marching Grill Team, the Shopping Cart Drill Team, the Bastard Sons of Lee Marvin, the Men of Leisure Synchronized Nap Team, The Marching Lumberjacks, The Army of Toy Soldiers, Claude Rains & the 20-Man Memorial Invisible Man Marching Drill Team, Uncle Fester, Count Smokula, The Radioactive Chicken Heads and the Committee for the Right to Bear Arms, a group that marches in precise formations while carrying mannequin arms. Snotty Scotty and the Hankies is still the official band (even though Scotty died early). Many groups participate in the Doo Dah Parade as a fundraising effort for various charities. In 2010 the parade was moved to May 1, and also moved from Old Pasadena to East Pasadena. This Parade has spawned many others like it.
In August 2012, the Pasadena Museum of History opened an exhibit entitled, "What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been: 35 Years of the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade", containing donated items and photographs from the past 35 years of the parade and including a recreation of part of the original Chromo's bar. Over 400 people attended the opening reception, many in costume. In 2016, Route 66 Magazine ran a story on the Doo Dah parade.
In mid-July 2020, officials cited the COVID-19 pandemic as grounds for cancellation. Like the Rose Parade, which was postponed to 2022, the 43rd Doo Dah Parade was deferred to later that year, as 2021 was also called off. The parade was held again on November 19, 2023 in Old Pasadena.
In 2025, the Light Bringer Project (the non-profit organization behind the event) postponed Pasadena's Doo Dah Parade until 2026, due to the thousands of locals displaced by the Eaton wildfires and unsteady funding.