2024 Rose Parade theme unveiled

"Celebrating a World of Music: The Universal Language" will be the theme for the 2024 Rose Parade, newly confirmed President and Chairman of the Board of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association Alex Aghajanian announced.

"The 2024 theme brings us together through music," Aghajanian said Thursday night on the front steps of Tournament House as the sounds of taiko drums filled the air. "In a world of different cultures, beliefs, hopes, and dreams, one language unites us all -- music.

"The sound, texture, rhythm, form, harmony, and expression meld together to move, soothe, excite and delight the world. From bossa nova to blues, classical to country, metal to mariachi and rock to rap, thousands of genres invite us to become one in celebrating a world of music."

Aghajanian told the Pasadena Star-News he selected music as the theme because it connects people.

"I can speak Armenian and you may not but I can tap a rhythm on a table and we can both enjoy that," Aghajanian told the newspaper.

The new association president traditionally announces the theme for the next parade on the night he or she officially ascends to the position.