This November, Pasadena's Street Traditions All Lead Back to Memorial Park

Over eight days this month, three of Pasadena's public events land within a short walk of the Memorial Park A Line station. On Sunday, Nov. 15, CicLAvia closes Colorado Boulevard to cars for the first time since 2015, and one of its two hubs sits at Memorial Park. On Thursday, Nov. 19, the shops on East Holly Street hold their 15th annual Holidays on Holly evening. On Sunday, Nov. 22, the Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade skips the parade and holds a free Love-In at the Memorial Park Bandshell, 85 E. Holly St.

Two of these events are usually about moving down a street. This year both settle around one park. That matters for planning your Sundays, and it also changes what each event is like.

The 2026 Route Is Shorter and Bends Toward the Park

When CicLAvia first came to Pasadena on May 31, 2015, it was a long straight line. The new route is shorter, and it turns a corner.

The City of Pasadena describes the 2026 route as one corridor through Old Pasadena, Playhouse Village and South Lake Avenue, linking Metro's Memorial Park and Del Mar stations. The route covers about three-quarters of a mile less boulevard than in 2015. In return, Raymond Avenue becomes a full car-free spur that runs past the park and both stations. The route has no official start or finish, so you can join or leave anywhere. For many people, the day will probably begin and end at the hub beside a train platform.

The city is setting up two one-mile pop-up bike lanes with cones and signs, and cars still use those streets. One lane runs along Walnut between Raymond Avenue and Orange Grove Boulevard, then continues to Rosemont Avenue, a few blocks from the Rose Bowl. The other runs along Colorado Boulevard from Allen Avenue to San Gabriel Boulevard and connects to Lamanda Park.

Both hubs will have water refill stations, ADA-compliant restrooms, first aid, basic bike repair, bike parking, seating and free pedicab rides from the information booths. Several local businesses along the route have posted specials on the CicLAvia event page:

• The Bar Method Pasadena, 32 Mills Place: a free class pass for attendees.
• Bokãos Aveda: free consultations and styling, plus 15% off.
• Southern California Children's Museum: bike-charm making, 20% off admission and a parking area for bikes, scooters, wagons and skateboards. The museum notes the area is unsupervised and has no locking racks.
• Strong Sports Gym: the store will be open and the gym will offer mini lessons.

The Old Pasadena Management District and the Playhouse Village Association have both said they support the event.

Sunday the 15th, Hour by Hour, If Your Car Lives on the Route

The event itself runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For anyone who parks on Colorado or Raymond, the day starts much earlier.

1. 4 a.m. No parking on the route or on the Slow Streets segments, and towing starts.
2. 6 a.m. Streets near the two activity hubs may close to cars this early.
3. 7 a.m. Colorado Boulevard from Pasadena Avenue to Allen Avenue and Raymond Avenue from Pacific Alley to East Dayton Street close to all car traffic.
4. 9 a.m. The open-streets event begins.
5. 3 p.m. The event ends. This is also the deadline to pick up a towed car at the Pasadena Police Department, 207 Garfield Ave. Cars left after that are impounded.
6. About 5 p.m. Streets fully reopen to cars.

Driveways and side streets stay open for residents and businesses. Cars can cross the route at six intersections, which are marked on the official route map. All buses that use the route or the Slow Streets will detour, including Pasadena Transit, Foothill Transit and Metro.

The A Line is the easiest way in. Memorial Park and Del Mar stations are each less than a tenth of a mile from the route. Lake and Allen are 0.4 miles away, and Fillmore is 0.8 miles. If you drive, CicLAvia points to the paid lots in Old Pasadena, the Paseo garage entrance on Green Street and Pasadena City College lots 3, 4 and 5. The route is for people-powered travel only. Electric scooters and electric skateboards aren't allowed. Class 1 e-bikes are fine, Class 2 e-bikes must have the throttle off and Class 3 e-bikes must have pedal-assist off.

The Boulevard Is Having a Birthday Weekend

The timing is deliberate. Romel Pascual, CicLAvia's executive director, said in the City of Pasadena's announcement that "the historic and iconic Colorado Blvd is celebrating its 150th Anniversary, and is part of Route 66 which is celebrating its centennial this year."

The Pasadena Museum of History has spent the year on the same anniversaries, and its November calendar lines up with the open-streets weekend:

• Thursday, Nov. 12, 7 to 8:30 p.m. "Route 66: Travelers and Tribes," a talk by historian Shawn Price, Dine'Tah Navajo Cultural Program Director. Tickets are $18 general and $13 for members, and advance reservations are required.
• Saturday, Nov. 14, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Route 66 Trivia at Wild Parrot Brewing Company. It's free to play with no RSVP, but space is limited.
• Through Jan. 24, 2027. The exhibition "Where History Meets the Road: Celebrating Route 66 & Colorado Boulevard," which includes four new oral histories from Pasadena Heritage.

Trivia night falls the evening before the boulevard goes car-free. That makes Saturday into Sunday a two-day celebration of a road most of us drive every week without thinking about it.

Holly Street, the Thursday in Between

Four days after CicLAvia, the attention moves a block north of Colorado. Holidays on Holly takes over East Holly Street on Thursday, Nov. 19, for the 15th year. Old Pasadena's listing promises late shopping hours, discounts, trunk shows, cocktails and snacks from the Shops on Holly. The bandshell where the Doo Dah gathers three days later sits on the same street, at 85 E. Holly.

The Doo Dah Stays in One Place

The Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade began in 1978 as a grassroots spoof of the Rose Parade. It has since been named "America's Best Parade" by Reader's Digest. This year there's no parade. The Doo Dah Love-In runs from about 11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22, at the Memorial Park Bandshell. It's free, open to all ages, and the organizers' invitation is to "come as you are, dress as you aren't."

The Pasadena Star-News reported that the format changed "due to a delay in permitting," citing Thomas Coston, board chair of the Light Bringer Project. Coston told the paper, "We all know these are tough times, and we need a little bit of decompression and happiness and joy. So we're hoping to spread joy." The organizers' press release says last year's parade was canceled after the Eaton Fire, and this year's gathering is meant to bring Pasadena and Altadena back together.

The "Occasional" in the name has earned its keep. The Doo Dah archive records no parade in 2007, a virtual stand-in in 2020, no parade in 2022 and a Doo Dah Takeover in 2025. The next parade is set for November 2027.

The parade's familiar characters still come to the bandshell. Spaghetti Cumbia headlines, joined by The Hankies, Radioactive Chicken Heads, Count Smokula, Shag Party, Bonehenge, Robby Ravenwood and the Funhouse Porcupines, Rocka Chewbacca, The Nextdoors, The Whistling Diva, StOnYAtTi, Bone Creek and Soul Fuzz. Former Doo Dah royalty Queen Mercy of the Merkettes, Taquila Mockingbird and Bootleg Meg will appear, along with the newly crowned 2026 Doo Dah Queen and her court. According to the Star-News, eight contenders competed at the Oct. 25 tryouts, and the crowd's cheers picked the winner.

The CicLAvia hub at 145 N. Raymond Ave. and the Love-In stage at 85 E. Holly St. are on the same park grounds, a week apart. Anyone who comes by A Line for both Sundays gets off at the same platform each time.

If you live near the route or anywhere around Memorial Park and want to talk about what this corner of Pasadena means for your home, Kate Amsbry would be glad to walk the neighborhood with you, on a car-free Sunday or any other day. Request your complimentary home consultation.