On New Year's Day, Meow Wolf will bring its first Rose Parade float to Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. The entry precedes the company's planned Los Angeles exhibition and features the collective's surreal visual style.
A Float for New Year's Day
Meow Wolf has titled the entry Meow Wolf Meow Wolf Meow Wolf: A Float by Meow Wolf. NBC Los Angeles reported that Artistic Entertainment Services worked with the collective on the float, which includes the Meow Wolf refrigerator and surreal creatures, and will be decorated with more than 210,000 flowers and other natural materials. It is scheduled for the 2027 Rose Parade Presented by Honda on January 1 in Pasadena, according to NBC Los Angeles.
NBC Los Angeles reported that Sofie Cruse described the float as an ephemeral project that grew from a big dream into a collaboration, timed ahead of the Los Angeles exhibition. Matthew Henick said the float would take a Meow Wolf world out for a drive on New Year's Day, noting that much of the country does not yet have a Meow Wolf world nearby.
Building Toward a Los Angeles Debut
The float arrives as Meow Wolf works to open its long-teased Los Angeles exhibition, which the company has said is coming to the HHLA center in West LA in late 2026 or early 2027, per its own website. The Los Angeles Times has separately reported the exhibition was destined to open in late 2026 at West L.A.'s Howard Hughes entertainment complex, taking over part of the former Cinemark movie theaters there.
Earlier Exhibitions and HHLA Plans
Meow Wolf has opened permanent exhibitions in other cities: a timeline from The Santa Fe New Mexican records that The Real Unreal opened in Grapevine, Texas, on July 14, 2023, and that the company's fifth exhibit, Radio Tave, opened in Houston on Oct. 31, 2024. The planned Los Angeles venue is at HHLA; the Los Angeles Business Journal reported that the center's owner planned a $150 million investment in capital improvements.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Meow Wolf Los Angeles will launch via a fantastical movie theater complete with a concession stand and a grand auditorium, and it will be the company's first exhibition with a firm beginning, middle and conclusion. From there, the newspaper reports, guests will explore the hulls of a spaceship, hop on planet-traversing bikes and uncover a divey greasy spoon at the end of the galaxy.
Local Artists Join the Project
Meow Wolf has said it works with local artists to blend multimedia, sculpture and narrative into its exhibitions, and the Los Angeles project is no exception. The company has said that Everything Is Terrible!, an LA-based artist collective known for creating art from found VHS tapes, is building a new space within Meow Wolf Los Angeles.
The Rose Parade dates to January 1, 1890, when Grand Marshal Francis Rowland and President Charles Holder rode on horseback to lead the first procession through Pasadena, according to the Tournament of Roses. Today's parade follows a 5½-mile route along Colorado Boulevard and starts at 8 a.m. PST each New Year's Day. Floats must be covered with flowers or other natural materials such as leaves, seeds and bark; the Tournament of Roses says delicate blooms such as roses are placed in individual water vials and added one at a time.
