LOS ANGELES, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- The 130th Rose Parade was held Tuesday in Pasadena, the western U.S. state of California, lighting up unrivaled celebrations for the New Year's Day.

The 5.5-mile parade started at 8 a.m. local time with an "Opening Spectacular" performance featuring Khan, "Dancing with the Stars" champion Jordan Fisher and hundreds of dancers.

The parade features 40 floral-covered floats, 18 equestrian groups and 20 marching bands from across the country and around the world, including bands from Japan, Sweden, Costa Rica and Canada.

The marching bands from the University of Washington and Ohio State University -- the teams competing in the Rose Bowl Game on Tuesday afternoon, also took part in the parade.

Float Harmony Through Union, which is dedicated to the history of Chinese transcontinental railroad workers and their contributions, was scheduled to join the parade.

The float showcases two train engines, Central Pacific Railroad's Jupiter and the Union Pacific No. 119, animated as if moving toward one another.

However, due to technical problems at the starting point, the float failed to march along the route.

Chinese laborers made up a majority of the Central Pacific workforce that built out the transcontinental railroad east from California. The rails they laid eventually met track set down by the Union Pacific, which worked westward.