| Portland Rose Festival | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The festival's Waterfront Village atTom McCall Waterfront Park, 2007 | |
| Begins | late May or early June |
| Ends | mid-June (2–3 weeks after starting) |
| Frequency | annual |
| Location | Portland, Oregon |
| Inaugurated | 1907; 119 years ago (1907) |
| Attendance | 1.2 million (2011)[1] |
| Budget | $3,407,582 (2011)[1] |
| Patron | Portland Rose Festival Foundation |
| Website | rosefestival.org |
ThePortland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held during the month of June inPortland, Oregon. It is organized by the volunteer non-profit Portland Rose Festival Foundation (named the Portland Rose Festival Association until the 2000s) with the purpose of promoting the Portland region. It includes three separateparades, along with a number of other activities.[2]
The Portland Rose Society, founded byGeorgiana Pittock and friends in 1888, began with a backyard rose show in Pittock's garden. The annual fundraising event drew more crowds each year. By 1904, the rose society was hosting its annual rose show along with additional festivities, including a parade and pageant.[3] In 1905, Portland MayorHarry Lane is remembered for his rousing speech at theLewis and Clark Exposition, telling the large crowd that Portland needed a "festival of roses". In 1906, the first Rose Festival and Flower Parade was held in Portland. Pittock and neighbors contributed roses from their gardens to decorate floats, wagons, people and horses for the parade.[4] In 1907, the Portland Rose Festival Association wasincorporated[5] and Portland hosted its first official Portland Rose Festival.[3]
The Grand Floral Parade is the centerpiece of the festival and the second largest all-floral parade in the United States[6][7][8] after theTournament of Roses Parade.[6][8] More than 500,000 spectators line the route, making thisflower parade the largest single-day spectator event in Oregon.[7][9] The first parade, in 1907, was called the Rose Carnival, but eventually came to be known as the Rose Festival Parade[10] and later still the Grand Floral Parade. The 1907 festival also included an "electric parade" with illuminatedfloats; this evolved into the Merrykhana Parade but after a two-season suspension was renamed theStarlight Parade in 1976.[2]
Since 1930, a queen has been selected from a court of high school seniors from each school in the area.[2][10] The members of the court are called princesses. For a brief period starting in 1997 they were officially called "ambassadors",[11] but the term "princesses" was reinstated in January 2007. A college scholarship is awarded to a 14-member "royalty". Starting in 2009, the Rose Festival Foundation opened one place on the court to someone from a school outside the Portland city limits.[12]There are drivers for the Princesses, who are chosen from each high school. The first African American driver (escort) was Sam Whitney from Benson High School in 1954. A Junior Rose Festival, focused on children, began unofficially in 1921, on the city's east side, and included its own parade and junior court. It became an official part of the Rose Festival in 1936.[2] The festival's annual Junior Parade takes place in the city'sHollywood district. The Junior Parade has grown to an event involving nearly 10,000 children, making it the world's largest parade for children.[13]
DuringFleet Week, ships fromUnited States Navy,Coast Guard,Army Corps of Engineers and theRoyal Canadian Navy dock along the seawall ofTom McCall Waterfront Park.
The festival also hosts the Starlight Parade, a fireworks display, and carnival rides along the Portland waterfront, among other events.Dragon boat races on the Willamette River have been included every year since 1989.[14]
TheGolden Rose Ski Classic is an annual ski race originating in 1936. It is the oldest known organized ski race in America, and is the onlyUSSA-sanctioned summer race.[15]
Anair show was added to the Rose Festival in 1988 and remained part of the festival through 2002. Held at theHillsboro Airport, it was named theRose Festival Air Show, with the name generally preceded by a sponsor's name, but after the 2002 and 15th show the Rose Festival Association decided to discontinue its relationship with the event. In 2003, the show was reorganized as theOregon International Air Show, with different sponsors and no longer a Rose Festival event.[16]
No festival was held in 1917 and 1918 because ofWorld War I or from 1942 through 1945 because ofWorld War II. From 2007 to 2016, the festival began with the82nd Avenue of Roses Parade. The parade was cancelled in 2017, but returned in 2018.COVID-19 pandemic concerns canceled the 2020[17] and 2021 parades, but the parade would return in 2022.[18]
On June 10, 2023, 43-year-old Sidney Mecham, drove hisChevrolet Avalanche through the parade in aroad rage incident. Dashcam footage from his own vehicle captured him screaming about blocked exits,flipping off workers, plowing through barricades, and nearly hitting spectators, including children. No one was injured. Mecham was soon arrested after evading police, and was indicted on reckless endangerment charges a few days later.[19]
On October 1, 2024, Mecham pleaded guilty to 15 counts of reckless endangerment, reckless driving, and two counts of unlawful use of a vehicle as a weapon, and was sentenced to five years imprisonment. Mecham claimed to have regretted the incident, calling it an "impulsive act".[20]
The One More Time Around Again Marching Band (OMTAAMB) performs at theStarlight Parade and the Grand Floral Parade. Established in the 1980s, the group was inspired by the St. Petersburg Festival of States' Second Time Around Again Band.[21] OMTAAMB include baton twirlers and dance troupes, and the band often plays "Louie Louie" byThe Kingsmen.[21][22] There were 560 members in 1996.[23] In 2010, part of the ensemble performed at City Hall after City Council named the Rose Festival the city's "official" festival.[21]
Spectacular all-floral floats bring fantasy to life for a half million parade fans along Oregon's largest single-day spectator event, the Grand floral Parade. ...
The 2020 Portland Rose Festival has been postponed. Rose Festival organizers made the announcement Thursday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rose Festival events were scheduled to begin May 22 and run through June 7. The Starlight Parade had been scheduled for May 30 and the Grand Floral Parade on June 6. No new dates were immediately announced.
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