The 136th Rose Parade is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. PST on New Year’s Day and roll 5.5 miles through the streets of Pasadena in front of an expected crowd of hundreds of thousands.

The parade will be televised on networks such as ABC, NBC, KTLA and Univision and streamed on platforms such as YouTube, Fubo and Pluto TV.

In celebration of this year’s parade theme, “Best Day Ever,” dozens of floats, marching bands and equestrian groups will cross Colorado Boulevard through the heart of Old Pasadena. Following the parade will be the Rose Bowl game between the Oregon Ducks and the Ohio State Buckeyes

Read more: A rose’s journey from a Colombian farm to a parade float in Pasadena

The parade is set to begin hours after a pickup truck driver plowed through a crowd in New Orleans’ French Quarter, killing at least 10 people and wounding at least 30 in a suspected terrorist attack.

A man drove into the crowd along Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday, where the city was packed with New Year’s Eve revelers and attendees of the Sugar Bowl college football game. New Orleans Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said the driver was “determined as hell to cause the carnage and the damage that he did.”

Lisa Derderian, a spokeswoman for the city of Pasadena, told the Times early Wednesday that the Rose Parade route was lined with “very robust vehicle barriers” and that there were more than 1,000 police officers in the city.

“This is a first-class federal event and has been for many years. “So we have federal, state, county and city resources that have been in Pasadena for several days and will remain there until the end of the parade and game tonight,” Derderian said.

“We want to reassure the public that we have taken all preventive measures,” she added. “We are confident that we are prepared for this parade and this game, but with that in mind, we also feel for the state of Louisiana for what they are going through.”

During last year’s Rose Parade, a woman rammed her vehicle into one of the barricades on Colorado Boulevard, Derderian said.

“She could have easily injured or killed people,” Derderian said. “She had a history of illness, she was told not to cross a line, she didn’t listen, revved the engine and kept driving. The barriers stopped them.”

Read more: Japan’s top high school marching band prepares to perform at the Rose Parade

This year’s Grand Marshal of the Rose Parade is Billie Jean King, the tennis icon and gender equality activist who won 20 Wimbledon titles and 39 Grand Slam titles and attracted an audience of 90 million people worldwide to the 1973 televised “Battle of the Sexes.” where she defeated former national tennis champion Bobby Riggs.

When she was named the parade’s grand marshal in October, the Long Beach native said it was “like a dream come true.”

“As a kid, the annual Tournament of Roses Parade was a big deal in our house,” said King, 81. “We talked about it all year long. … We looked forward to it every year.”

The 2021 Rose Parade was canceled for the first time since World War II due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A smaller audience returned in 2022, but visitor numbers have increased in recent years.

Candy Carlson, a spokeswoman for the Tournament of Roses, said in a statement to The Times that about 750,000 people lined the route in 2024, compared to about 700,000 in 2022, indicating a “strong return” to pre-pandemic crowds indicates.

“The continued increase in attendance underscores the enduring appeal of the Rose Parade and the joy it brings to our community and visitors from around the world,” she said. “We are confident that this year’s parade will continue to attract a lively and engaged audience.”

The Rose Bowl, now the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, will be televised nationally on ESPN, with pre-season festivities beginning at 1:00 p.m. PST and kickoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.