Cancellation of Santa Rosa’s annual Rose Parade forced by coronavirus concerns, shelter-in-place order

Coronavirus concerns and state and local stay-home orders have forced the cancellation or postponement of a long list of major events, but the biggest blow so far in Santa Rosa is the cancellation of this year’s 126th annual Luther Burbank Rose Parade, previously scheduled for May 18. The cancellation means the event will not be held for the first time since 1950.

“Unfortunately, after much consideration and (with) heavy hearts, the board has elected to cancel the 2020 Luther Burbank Rose Parade & Festival. The presence of COVID-19 in our community has moved us to this decision,” Peter Briceno, president of the event’s board of directors, announced on the parade’s website. “We very much intend to have the parade in 2021.”

Briceno said in a phone interview Saturday that with schools closed and families staying home, the parade organizers obviously couldn’t expect the usual level of student participation this year. Pulling crews together to build floats, let alone staging an event that draws thousands of fans, was simply out of the question, he said.

In recent history the parade has typically included as many as 400 ?people marching or riding in nearly 200 entries. The parade board already has notified this year’s participants about the cancellation.

“They’re upset, but everybody is very understanding,” Briceno said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Briceno, now in his third year as the parade board’s president, expects his directors to regroup and start planning next year’s parade by January or February.

Thousands turned out to see last year’s parade, despite stormy weather. Judy Groverman Walker, who managed the community event from 2000 through the end of last year, warned last spring that the 2019 event might be the last because contributions from major sponsors had fallen off, leaving a shortage of about $25,000 needed for the event’s $100,000 budget.

But this year, with a committee overseeing parade plans without full-time professional management, organizers felt confident about covering the cost of the event, Briceno said.

“We actually had considerable resources set aside,” he said. “We have strong commitments from longtime sponsors in town.”

Lack of funds threatened the annual celebration in 2009, in the wake of a national economic recession. Parade directors contemplated discontinuing the event that year because of a decline in financial support from the community until late entrepreneur-philanthropist Henry Trione and Jim Ratto, then president of refuse hauler North Bay Corp., stepped forward with significant donations.

The annual parade and festival dates back to Santa Rosa’s first Rose Carnival in 1894, but there have been some interruptions over the decades. Famed horticulturist and Santa Rosa resident Luther Burbank participated as early as 1914 in the celebration, which continued until 1926, when it was canceled because of Burbank’s death.

A longer hiatus was observed during World Wars I and II, and the Junior Chamber of Commerce Jaycees revived the celebration in 1950, renaming it in honor of Burbank.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com.