Appearing in the Tournament of Roses Parade is an honor for marching bands around the world.
This year, the Rancho Verde Crimson Regiment from Moreno Valley — which will join bands from Denmark and Japan — will be doing it for the second time.
RELATED: Rose Parade 2025 lineup: Your guide to every float, band and equestrian unit, in order
Rancho Verde High School’s marching band, 190 band and color guard members strong, will represent the Inland Empire in the 136th Rose Parade on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025.
The regiment is one of the larger competitive field bands in Riverside County and represents the Val Verde Unified School District campus near March Air Reserve Base. Band members are diverse and speak eight different languages at home.
In the past two decades, the group has grown from 45 people in 2003 to more than 275 students today. It continues to be led by Band Director Honglac Hathuc, who joined the school 22 years ago.
The band is coming off of a season with three of five field show wins for shows titled “The Glass Slipper,” based on “Cinderella,” Hathuc said.
But he wants to keep spotlight on the Rose Parade, where the band will make its second performance. The first was in 2020.
“Our main focus all year has been the 5 miles played in front of millions of people,” Hathuc said Thursday, Dec. 26. “So we want to make sure that that’s our biggest highlight of the year.”
Hathuc said the field show was inspired by his 3-year-old daughter’s love of the movie “Cinderella,” but the band’s choice for New Year’s Day was inspired by the parade’s 2025 theme “The Best Day Ever.”
The band applied in 2023 with a five-minute video that included an introduction and performance clips. Applications went to a committee and the band was chosen from 500 or more applicants, Hathuc said.
The regiment chose a love song, “From the Start” by Laufey, an Icelandic-Chinese singer-songwriter, he said. The song is about falling in love for the first time, something he said the band felt fit the day’s theme. The band will play other popular songs, such as “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus.
The regiment is looking forward to taking the corner on Orange Grove and Colorado boulevards, a famous part of the route where every entry must navigate the turn, Hathuc said.
“There’s no bigger stage in the world for us to be on, so the kids are just really excited about getting out there and doing our thing,” Hathuc said.
Alexis Bautista, one of five drum majors who will lead the band, called the experience amazing. The band has been practicing for the parade since fall 2023, she said.
“I’m really glad that it’s something that I get to do my senior year, because it is such a big deal, and to be a part of it is really, it’s really cool,” Bautista said.
Bautista plans to continue in music by pursuing a degree in musical education after she graduates.
The band will leave Monday, Dec. 30, to head to Pasadena for Band Fest and will stay in the area until the parade. It will be the 80th act to step off onto the parade route.
Band members won’t be the only Inland Empire residents in the Rose Parade. Here’s a list of others to watch for.
U.S. Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard
The Barstow color guard will be second. Marines have led every Rose Parade since 1985, and are the only equestrian unit authorized to carry the American flag in the New Year’s Day procession.
The Color Guard will wear historic uniforms and is the last mounted unit in the Marines. Members will ride palomino mustangs adopted through the Bureau of Land Management’s Adopt a Horse and Burro Program, according to the parade website.
U.S. Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band
The band, from Camp Pendleton and San Diego, has Marines from the 1st Marine Division Band at Camp Pendleton, the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band out of Miramar and the Marine Band San Diego at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
They normally perform separately but come together once a year for the Rose Parade. The band will be third.
One Legacy Foundation
Athena Zepeda, an organ donor from Riverside, will be honored on the OneLegacy float, which will be 11th in line.
The float honors donors with memorial floragraphs. Zepeda died in November 2020 after taking a muscle relaxer that turned out to be laced with fentanyl, a November news release from Riverside Community Hospital state. Her heart went to a 13-year-old boy in Las Vegas, one of her eyes to a recipient in Chile, and her lungs, kidneys and liver to patients on the organ-donation waiting list.
Hospital employees wrote messages on floral vials to be included on the float.
Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band
The lineup’s 31st performance will be the Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band — which will feature 11 Inland Empire high school students.
The band has performed in the parade since 1930 and is composed of PCC Lancer Marching Band members and high school students from throughout Southern California.
The Inland schools and performers include:
- Kaiser High School, Fontana — Alec Franco, herald snare; Kimberly Gomez, color guard; Anabelle Escobedo, flute; Maximo Franco, trumpet; Achilles Jauregui, trombone; Liliana Lobo, euphonium; Jhiana Magalong, bells and xylophone; and Marcos Perez, bass trombone.
- Jurupa Hills High School, Fontana — Diego Muro, clarinet
- Bonita High School, La Verne — Logan Martinez, flute
- San Dimas High School — Andrew Ward, snare drum
Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
The two universities will bring their float — depicting a day at the lake with Nessie the Lochness monster and her friends — to life as Nessie gets a look at onlookers. The float is made from flowers and is complete with animatronics.
The university is the only group of students to enter the parade. The universities have appeared in the Rose Parade since 1949.
Standing at 21 feet, the float will have more than 37,000 flowers, including bright green pistachios and splotches of pink roses and carnations that travel up Nessie’s back and spine. The universities have won more than 60 trophies, including the Crown City Innovator Award last year for their entry “Shock n’ Roll: Powering the Musical Current.”
Norco Cowgirls Rodeo Drill Team
Returning for their 11th Rose Parade ride, the Norco Cowgirls will be one of 18 equestrian groups.
The team will perform daring, high-speed maneuvers on horseback. Its 15 riders wear black and hot pink rodeo shirts and hot pink cowboy hats.
