Few students in the University have been privileged to attend Pasadena's great yearly festival, "The Tournament of Roses." Many do not realize the wonder and the beauty of the event at which the University football team is to take a leading part. In some respects this great "American Riviera" resembles the "Battle of Flowers" hold at Nice, France, at which many of the American soldiers were present last year.

"The Tournament of Roses" truly justifies its name. For in California, while New England lies frozen and bound by Jack Frost's fetters, roses bloom and orange blossoms scent the air. Thousands of tourists go there, seeking the warmth and sunshine of the Pacific Coast.

First Tournament In 1888.

The Tournament of Roses had its beginning in 1888 when the Valley Hunt Club gave a program of sports, races, games and displays of Spanish horsemanship. At that time sports were the predominating factor of the day, but soon the procession of flowers was instituted, and for many years the tournament has combined these two elements, the flower procession in the morning and the sports in the afternoon.

The sports are held in the famous "Tournament Park," acquired several years ago by the city of Pasadena. In this is the finest football field in Southern California and the only turf field. Here for many years winning teams from all sections of the world struggled in championship polo games the afternoon after the Pageant of Flowers, and the sport side of the festival has never been lost sight of.

Polo Now Replaced by Football

Football was now displaced polo as the great sport which attracts the crowds to the pageant. Although games between eastern and western teams have been held in various parts of the country, it was not until the New Year's festival of 1916 that the management first carried out the plan of having a football game in Pasadena between the best players of West and East. In that year the University of Washington defeated Brown by a 14 to 0 score, and the year after Oregon and Pennsylvania met and the former won by the same score.

The war temporarily put a stop to college games, but this did not prevent the management from following out its original program, so that in 1918 the Marine Corps eleven decisively overcame an aggregation from Camp Lewis.

Victory Tournament Last Year.

The 30th festival ushered in the greatest of the Pasadena pageants, "The Victory Tournament." A military spirit pervaded the day. Parades of soldiers, long lines of be-garlanded guns comprised the major part of the morning exercises, while in the afternoon a Mare Island team of marines struggled manfully but in vain against an eleven from the Great Lakes Naval Training Station.

The Procession of Flowers starts the program of the day, a parade in which many classes of floats contend for prizes for the best floral decoration. High schools and colleges, hotels, cities and towns, all have their floats. This year the scope of the tournament has been extended, and cities from all parts of the West are entering floats in the contest.

Beautiful Supplants Military

The accent this year will be upon the beautiful, departing from the military aspect of last year's victory tournament. The floats this year are expected to surpass in their magnificence those of former years, some of which have become historical, such as the famous flower peacock entered by Mrs. Anita Baldwin.

Passadena offers a royal welcome to her visitors. The evenings before the great game are filled with merriment and sport for the eastern guests. On the evening after the game a ball is held in the Maryland Hotel. Win or lose, no team ever comes away from Pasadena disappointed, for the western spirit of hospitality pervades the atmosphere and the qualities of real sportsmanship are recognized on every hand.